A Stawell Warriors legend has helped the club earn even greater bragging rights, after scoring the club's fourth WFNL best and fairest win in 2021.
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On Monday, September 20, Tracey Dark added another win to the club's tally to join the talented trio of Sophie Hutton, Molly Orr and Jessie Cowen as fellow WFNL best and fairest winners.
Dark finished the count on 21 votes, enough to win the WFNL C Grade netball best and fairest, giving her the second league best and fairest trophy of her career, 20 years after the last.
In a close count, Dark finished just three votes ahead of the Horsham Saints' Zeena Kelm.
On Monday night, Dark was supposed to be working, but some moving behind the scenes and without her knowledge, ensured she was free to sit down and watch the count unfold.
"I was just plodding around eating my tea, so I wasn't too concerned, just in my trackies," she said.
"At the halfway point, I thought I wasn't on there and I got my first shock when my name popped up at the top of the leaderboard.
"I was leading on 14 votes
"After that they flew through the votes, so I had no idea until they announced the runner-up and I thought it had to be me when I wasn't on the screen."
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Dark, who at 55 continues to defy age in her role as the Warriors' Goal Keeper, said she owed the award to her teammates from the 2021 season.
"To me it feels like I am taking this award on behalf of the team because unless I have those players around me to help me play well, then you are not going to do as well," she said.
"We worked well together, that makes a difference if you can trust the people you're with.
"We really gelled and we could pull a switch without calling it for example.
"When you have a unit working together and you can trust each other it makes a huge difference."
Dark also said she used 2020 to continue to maintain her fitness at a level that lets her play her best netball.
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"I have done lots of gym work and kept my fitness up, especially in 2020 when we couldn't play at all," she said.
"I can't expect to just walk out and play like I could when I was younger. I have had to work a bit harder on my fitness."
Despite notching up her 450th game for the Stawell Warriors in 2021, winning her second career league best and fairest and winning numerous premierships in her career, Dark said she still has more to do.
"I feel like we have unfinished business, but I will have to wait and see how I am going to see if I will play again next season," she said.
"I will just keep going how I am going and see if I can handle another year of playing.
"It doesn't feel like we have had any closure from this season, so we will have to wait and see."
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