Once the votes for round 16 were read out Harrow-Balmoral’s Kathryn Bowles, Kalkee’s Lisa Fulton and Jeparit-Rainbow’s Chantelle Fisher all had 20 votes to their names.

Bowles said she was surprised to be on top in the count.

“We have some pretty good girls in our team so I’m pretty happy to be here,” she said.

“Just playing again was a highlight, I had a baby last year so it was nice to be back on the court.”

Fulton said her team had had a great season.

“At the end we were stealing each others votes,” she said.

“We’ve now got to play the grand final on the weekend and that will be a tough game.

“We haven’t beaten them (Noradjuha-Quantong) yet so it will be very tight I hope.”

With Jeparit-Rainbow not featuring in finals Fisher’s season ended after round 16.

“I definitely did not expect this,” she said.

“I’m quite the opposite of these girls because our team only won four games for the year.”

She said a highlight for her was just being able to get through the season.

“I’ve had trouble with my knees in the past so I’m always happy if I can get through injury free,” she said.

The award was only one vote away from being a four-way tie. Noradjuha-Quantong’s Jessica Reinheimer managed to poll in seven games in order to attract 19 votes.

Bowles and Fulton each polled in eight games while Fisher featured in 11.

Kathryn Bowles, Harrow-Balmoral, 20

Chantelle Fisher, Jeparit Rainbow, 20

Lisa  Fulton, Kalkee 20

Jessica Reinheimer, Noradjuha-Quantong, 19

Jade Bird, Stawell Swifts, 17