We will have a new winner of the Halls medal in 2022 with injury, national commitments and their teams form playing an important part in determining this years award
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Previous Decade Winners
2012 Jess Mahony (Central District Lions)
2013 Jess Foley (Norwood Flames)
2014 Amy Lewis (Norwood Flames)
2015 Callan Taylor (Woodville Warriors)
2016 Olivia “Levicki” Thompson (Forestville)
2017 Alex Wilson (Eastern Mavericks)
2018 Chelsea Brook (Sturt Sabres)
2019 Carmen Tyson-Thomas (Eastern Mavericks)
2022 Teige Morrell (Southern Tigers)
Did you know???
In the Womens the club who has won the most Halls medals is North Adelaide with 10 followed by South Adelaide with 9 and West Adelaide with 8. Out of the 10 current clubs, everyone has posted a winner with Sam Woosnam the least recent club player to win it for West Adelaide way back in 2006. The biggest multiple winner of the Halls is Vicki Kelson who has won it four times in 2000, 2001 and 2005 including a three-way tie in 1999 with Narelle Lindsay and Kristen Veal.
The Favourites
Sam Simons (Forestville Eagles)
A bit like the Forestville Eagles who took a while to get going the Merv Harris of 2021 is likely to do the same. However, come Round 4 of the countback by the delegates, the Adelaide Lightning wing is likely to poll significant votes including by my count eleven lots of three votes. From there other games even where the Eagles lost she’s still likely to grab at least a vote in those matches. Throw in that Bella Stratford and Rachael Hines are the only ones likely to pinch votes from her; she should still finish around the 30 mark and be one of the favourites.
Mikayla Williams (Sturt Sabres)
Williams will likely lead the count from the very start of the season and in most of her games across the first half of the season where the Sabres were unbeaten, she had big numbers both in points and rebounds. I’ve got her down overall for eight lots of three votes but where she’ll catch the leader and possibly win it is she was nearly second or third best in each match regardless. With not too many likely to grab votes off her; she’s a strong chance to be wearing the Halls by the end of the afternoon.
Jasmin Fejo (West Adelaide Bearcats)
Fejo is a known vote getter having won the Merv Harris award back in 2019 and has had an incredible season after showing signs of returning to her elite best in 2021. It really will come down to the votes that are grabbed by her team-mates with Jennie Rintala likely to poll strong as well and a late season flourish from Madelynn Utti on the cards. The point guard position is often considered a key element of a team and her statistics including 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.3 steals should yield her plenty of votes; the thing to watch will be if they’ll be threes or two.
The Smokeys
Ash Spencer (South Adelaide Panthers)
Its dependant on the first nine rounds of voting during the Panthers winning streak who in the eyes of the voters saw the value in but if they did feel “Splash” deserved a bunch of threes then she’ll be right up there around the mid-point. From there if she can squeak some more out then she’s a huge chance to be there right at the end but she did miss four games which may see her finish top ten but come up short on the podium positions.
Ally Wilson (Norwood Flames)
She’s only played 13 games this season but you can almost guarantee that she’s bound to poll votes in all games. A statline of 20.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.8 steals makes her a prime candidate. The five games missed might just see her miss out on the overall award but don’t count her out from a top three finish.
Morgan Yaeger (Southern Tigers)
Another one who didn’t play every game but, in the end, only missed the three for the season. My only concern with her not being around the top this time is the games around Round 5-9 where just before the injury she was well held. Apart from that expect another top ten finish from the Townsville Fire combo guard.
Keep An Eye on
Raynisha Washington (Central District Lions)
I really like this pick to watch carefully particularly across the second half of the season. I expect her to poll multiple times even in some losses for the Lions and her ability to not just put points on the board but also grab double figure rebounds consistently gets her in the eyes of the officials all the time. The losses in the end may not translate to votes but also valiant effort for a team who’s had its most successful season in a long time might as well garner some votes.
Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu (Eastern Mavericks)
Consistently the number one player for the Mavericks through 2022. Even in losses her numbers have been huge and overshadowed the second-best players for the opposition. I’ve got her down to poll in 10 of the 18 games including a couple of small votes which in the end won’t mean she’s a contender but still finish top ten for the season.
Mollie McKendrick (Southern Tigers)
The runner up of 2016 is a proven vote getter who after Round 3 really go motoring then produced high numbers for the 2022 season back at the Cage. The Tigers will likely share votes among themselves on their second half of season run and averaging 16.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and shooting over 51 percent from the field gets eyes on you and she’s likely to pull some 3-voters throughout the count.
The Winner is… Sam Simons and Mikayla Williams
I think they’ll be a tie despite in my count Simons winning on 38 and Williams on 37
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