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3-Minute Read
A huge thankyou to our experts, the commentators of the NBL1 Central that cast their own 3-2-1 each match of the season to help with the predictions below for the award…
Previous Decade Winners
2013 Daniel Johnson (West Adelaide)
2014 Alex Starling (Woodville)
2015 Matthew Lycett (Norwood)
2016 Nelson Kirksey (Woodville)
2017 Eian Davis (South Adelaide)
2018 Alex Starling (North Adelaide)
2019 CJ Turnage (Southern)
2021 CJ Turnage (Norwood)
2022 Jeremy Smith (South Adelaide)
2023 Jawan Stepney (Woodville)
2024 Alex Starling (South Adelaide)
Did you know???
In the Mens the club with the most Woollacott medals won is Sturt who were also United Church prior to 1972 with 12, West Adelaide and Norwood each have 11. Out of the 10 current clubs, everyone has posted a winner with Steve Brekke the least recent club player to win it for Central District Lions way back in 1984.
The biggest multiple winner of the Woollacott is “Chairman of the Boards” himself Mark Davis who has won it five times between 1986 and 1992 including a tie with former 36ers teammate Mike McKay in 1987. There have also been 14 back-to-back winners of the award with the most recent CJ Turnage in 2019 and 2021 and the first Don Collins for West Torrens in 1951.
The Favourites
Daniel Johnson (Forestville Eagles)
We listed the past 11 years above because that’s when the veteran star of our league last won it – he’s a chance to do it again even stronger this year. The ultimate plug and play player has been elite this year in his work for the Eagles averaging 20.1 points (#6), 7.6 rebounds (#14) and 5.1 assists (#6).
This in a team of stars has arguably been his strongest season in multiple years and in those seasons he polled right near the top – that paves for a possible entry into the multiple winners club in 2025…
Keanu Rasmussen (West Adelaide Bearcats)
A breakout NBL season at the Adelaide 36er, given the keys to the point guard position and under the coach who masters the stars of the league equals very warm if not red hot favourite for the Woollacott. Rightly so for Rasmussen who has had an outstanding season in his most productive stint in the NBL1 Central with 24.1 points at 54 percent (#1 with a plus nine point lift since last stint in 2023), six rebounds and 5.3 assists (# with a plus three lift as above).
14 likely games are likely to yield votes with not much chance of too many steals off him. The work in the NZNBL with Hawke’s Bay and the NBL time has elevated his game to another level as a genuine superstar – his chances of taking the Bearcats first Woollacott since his this season contender in DJ highly probable.
Christian Brandon (South Adelaide Panthers)
The team-mate of a previous winner may be a good omen for the athletic import forward and he started with a bang. Expecting he’ll be leading early out of the blocks with his first seven likely to produce some big numbers on the leader board.
A patch in the middle of the season, some missed games and an on fire Lloyd McVeigh may possibly keep him out of the final picture but you just never know for a player in the top ten for points (#7 at 19.7) and rebounds (#7 at 8.9)…
The Smokeys
Greg Mays (Forestville Eagles)
Can’t talk the Woollacott Medal without looking at the Grand Final MVP of 2024 who to be honest has probably at least equalled his previous season output. If last year was an indication – Mays polled more than we all anticipated in 2024 and there is no doubt the all-star five member will be amongst the numbers again.
The statistics don’t talk to the influence and impact he has – the issue this year is he has at least three other team-mates taking valuable votes off him including the next smokey…
Alex Starling (Forestville Eagles)
Never write off the three time Woollacott Medallist and last year’s recipient of the award. Gunning for his second in a row and fourth to equal Huba Nagy of the Norwood Flames – this year is difficult to see him chasing down the leaders at his own club let alone the rest of the competition.
But we also wouldn’t count him out on his impact being measured in the key numbers including #1 in rebounds with 11.8 points and his defensive qualities having won DPOY five times – which also has him trying to equal Todd Matthews of the Flames across the late 2000s.
Nick Wurm (Woodville Warriors)
A career best season (at least to the eye) for the dynamic guard who has won more games off his own back than we can recall in sometime. Wurm’s impact has seen the Warriors rise from a challenger to a genuine contender for the championship in the second half of the season.
A plus five points per game rise has shown he may be the clutch player the Warriors need and this will reflect in the count – likely to take votes in at least six of the last nine matches but will it be enough to catch the leaders by counts end?
Keep An Eye on
BJ Symons (Eastern Mavericks)
TP called it before the season started that the skillset the Diamond Valley Eagle would bring to our league would be a problem for a majority of teams. The dominant paint player has grown on all of us having produced big time performance after performance to nearly steer the Mavs to a first time finals appearance in over twenty plus years.
That’s where the votes may fall short for Symons is number of wins for his side but with all 18 games played he likely has polled in 12 games and likely more as his unique style of play has a greater influence than the numbers suggest.
Efe Abogidi (Central Districts Lions)
“The Monster of our League” as dubbed by Downtown Allan Browne certainly proved to be a matchup problem at his best in 2025 and looms also as an X-Factor for the Lions in the upcoming finals series. Abogidi at his best has been unstoppable with not only power around the rim at both ends but also a deadly stroke from outside making him an incredibly difficult proposition to guard.
Our only concern from a medal point of view is the evenness of the Lions team where votes are spread but he also has a strong patch between Round 8-14 where he’ll punch a few tres and twos likely keeping him just outside the contenders.
Joe Jackson (Woodville Warriors)
Numbers definitely don’t tell the story but positional change and being part of the third best team on the ladder do and if Wurm doesn’t get votes – Joe is someone who will.
A highly fancied opportunity for the defensive player of the year from the second best defensive team of the year – we are all intrigued how much of the votes he will get it. He could emerge as a real left field option but also we wouldn’t be surprised if he gets more votes than we gave as his impact would be highly valued especially in the key voters’ eyes.
Our final prediction for the Woollacott Medal will be announced on Episode 39 of the SA Shotclock
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