By Tallon Smith

We have arrived at the pointy end of the year, and it is almost time to crown our 2024 Battlers For Bush Footy Battler of the Year.

The Battler of the Year is the most prestigious award given by Battlers For Bush Footy, to the player or volunteer that does the most for a club or the game across regional Australia.

The award is in line with the mission statement of Battlers For Bush Footy, which is to “positively promote and share the spirit of the game of rugby league in regional New South Wales and beyond.”

Each of the nominees and the eventual winner is selected by myself, Tallon Smith, the founder and editor of Battlers For Bush Footy, based upon the impact on the game as observed by myself and my friends, acquaintances and contacts across the state.

Therefore, I would like to present the five finalists for the Battler of the Year for season 2024.

Tiarna Robertson (Group 20, West Wyalong Mallee Men & Chicks)

The first finalist in the 2024 Battler of the Year is West Wyalong League Tag star and soon to be co-coach Tiarna Robertson.

The Group 20 Volunteer of the Year, Robertson assumed the role of Secretary and Social Media at the West Wyalong club in 2024, overseeing a logo and name change to better reflect the club’s strong female representation.

Robertson also dealt with media and incidents within the season in a professional manner, with club statements released proactively, and media enquiries always answered promptly.

However, the most impressive part of her work was in the social media sphere, where she created short video content, reels, creative advertisements and other forms of social media content to keep the club’s supporters and followers engaged.

The creation of this engaging content led to many other clubs following suit and upgrading their social media in the region, with Robertson’s work being the catalyst for a social media revolution that dragged Group 20 into the 21st century.

Therefore, for this work and dedication to the club and the game, we congratulate Tiarna Robertson, a finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year.

Robert Nascimben (Group 20, Griffith Waratahs)

The second finalist in the Battler of the Year is 2024 Griffith Waratah Tigers President Robert Nascimben.

Following the call in March last year to withdraw from all senior grades for the 2023 season, a small but passionate team of volunteers began planning on how to save their beloved football club from being the latest casualty of country footy’s prolonged struggles.

Nascimben, a rugby league man through and through, worked tirelessly around his job as the manager of a home-building company, along with volunteers and esteemed coach Willie Lolohea to help the once mighty club get back on its feet.

Finally, after a year in recess and what many thought to be the end of the club, the Tigers emerged from the shadows to re-enter the Group 20 Rugby League competition this season, with the Luke Farmer-led Reserve Grade squad going on to win the premiership in their first year back in the competition.

A former player for the Waratahs in the 1990s, Nascimben takes immense pride in the club, working to better the environment each day without fanfare, not even appearing in Reserve Grade premiership photos, because it “wasn’t about” him.

Because of this hard-working attitude and dedication to the game, Battlers For Bush Footy would like to congratulate Robert Nascimben, a finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year. 

Kurt Longford (Group 17, Deniliquin Blueheelers)

The third finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year is Deniliquin Blueheelers President Kurt Longford.

After initially being formed in 1964, and going on to win three consecutive premierships between 1969 and 1971, the Blueheelers folded in 1977.

Enter Longford, who when playing for the Darlington Point-Coleambally Roosters reserves last year, had a chance phone call with The Battler himself that spawned the idea for restarting a league club in Deniliquin, where Longford happened to be moving.

Kurt then grabbed onto what was intended to be a throwaway line in a conversation from yours truly, taking the idea and turning it into reality against all odds.

Longford organised sponsorship, found players, designed jerseys and held meetings to form the club.

Because of all of this work, the game of rugby league and the Group 17 competition (in its current form of the ProTen Community Cup), was able to officially welcome the Blueheelers back into the fold last month ahead of the 2025 season. 

Therefore, Battlers For Bush Footy would like to congratulate Kurt Longford, a finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year.

David Holt (Group 9, Junee Diesels)

Another finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year, for the second consecutive year, is Junee Diesels President David Holt.

If you know Group 9, chances are you know David Holt. 

The most passionate Diesel of them all, ‘Holty’, as he is affectionately known, is the man behind the club’s return to Group 9 First Grade over the past two seasons after two years out in 2021 and 2022 left the club with an uncertain future. 

Holty promotes developing local juniors through to First Grade, with the club fielding every grade in 2024, and acquiring coaches that are focused on long term development rather than short term success, such as 2025 co-coach Chase Bernard, who has signed for three years to help the club promote its young talent to the top grade.

His ute is unmissable, the tray always packed with footballs, tackle pads and drink bottles, as he effectively carts the club around with him.

Finally, Holt always has a can-do attitude when it comes to anything football-related.

Whether it is with media commitments at short notice, or promoting the rapidly expanding women’s game, including a commitment to try and field a Women’s Under 18s team next year, despite the challenges that many other teams say are insurmountable.

Finally, whenever he answers the phone, Holty always says he is “on top of the world”, and after talking footy with him, it’s impossible not to feel the same sense of optimism for the game.

So, for all of these achievements, we congratulate David Holt, a finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year.

Ben Honan (Illawarra League, Berkeley Eagles)

How the mighty have fallen. 

Those were the words when former First Grade club Berkeley unceremoniously fell from the Illawarra Rugby League’s First Grade competition in 2019 to Third Grade post the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Enter your fifth finalist for the 2024 Battler of the Year, Ben Honan, and the current committee. 

Honan, as President, guided the team from the brink of uncertainty to a Third Grade premiership in 2023, and a return to Reserve Grade in 2024, where the team again made the Grand Final before running into the all-conquering Wests Devils in the Grand Final.

Despite being closer to the end of his career than the beginning, Honan also laces up the boots week in week out, playing “wherever the coach needs” him to.

Eagles games are always a community affair, with Honan and the club creating a great atmosphere that even saw local junior Jack Bird join those peering over the pickets earlier this season.

Attendances at Berkeley games are amongst the highest in the Illawarra League, and with Honan and the committee always looking at ways to further develop the game in Wollongong’s southern suburbs, this will only grow in the future.

The end goal of a return to First Grade may be a little while away, but one thing’s for sure, whilever Honan is around, the club will remain in pursuit of a return to their glory days.

Ben’s efforts, as well as his enthusiasm for the club, the league and the game have seen him recognised by Battlers For Bush Footy as a finalist for the Battler of the Year in 2024.

The winner for the Battler of the Year will be announced tomorrow, Thursday December 12, at 5pm AEST.