In her third season at the club Story was a pivotal and ever reliable shooter for her side throughout the season.

She described her win as surreal.

“I came here tonight not believing I could do it but I’m very proud of my self and the team,” she said. “I was very honoured to be up there with Ebonie (Salter).”

She said strong recruiting in the off-season had helped her and the team do so well this season.

“We had some really good players like Rebbeca Mcintyre come in and a few other young ones as well, such as the McAuliffes from Kalkee,” she said. “That meant I had a bit more freedom around the court, I could go into goal attack more instead of being stuck at goal shooter.”

In the end Story was a clear winner as her 38 votes allowed her to finish eight clear of Harrow-Balmoral’s Ebonie Salter.

“Thank you to Harrow-Balmoral for having me,” Salter said.

“A huge congratulations to Caitlin, you absolutely blew us away. I think you were best on in pretty much every game and you are very deserved winner.”

Salter’s teammate Sarah Cleaver finished in third place and also won the under-21 player of the year award. “Sarah had a fantastic year, she was new to our club last year and really stepped it up again this season,” Salter said.

Story polled in 14 games during the season. She said that stepping away from the coaching also helped here focus on what she was doing on court.

“The Laharum football and netball club has supported me a lot in the three seasons I have been there,” she said.“I took on the coaching role the first two seasons and I dropped back to assistant coach this season. A big thank you to Liz Reddie for taking on the coaches role so I could focus more on my netball this year, it’s obviously payed off for me.”

The Laharum side dropped only one game during the regular season but was bundled out of finals in the preliminary final against Natimuk United.

“The highlight of the season was finishing top of the ladder,” Story’s said.

“We had a great home and away season but unfortunately in the finals we couldn’t get it done. Our teamwork across the whole season was really good.”

A sling on the winners right arm resulted from post season celebrations after the game on Saturday.

“I got pushed and unfortunately fell on my arm,” she said. “I’m still waiting to hear back from the hospital as to the full extent.” 

Caitlin Story, Laharum, 38

Ebonie Salter, Harrow-Balmoral, 30

Sarah Cleaver, Harrow-Balmoral, 18

Cynthia Watt, Edenhope-Apsley, 17

Jaymi O'Connor, Kalkee, 16