The final event of the London RL season took place at the fabulous Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC, on Friday 10 October when the seventh Annual London RL awards took place. Medway Dragons were represented well on the nominations shortlist with 6 individual nominees.

The Award winners received their trophies from Joe Keyes, a former Dragon, England Youth International, who now plays in the Super League for London Broncos

The first Dragons winner on the night was Justin Hollidge who was named as the Junior Coach of the Year for 2014.

Dragons Head Coach Martin Coyd said ‘This is richly deserved and is given to a coach who epitomises everything you would want from someone in that role. Justin took the role of Dragons Under 13s Coach after the team had broken up over the winter. His enthusiasm, determination, belief and passion, along with Scott Collier, was an example to us all. They never gave up, turned out a team week after week and gave every player a great experience. Winning in junior football should never be about the score, it’s about giving your best, improving and being great people.’

The second Dragons winner on the night was Atu Laqaterabua who was named as the Under 15 Man of Steel.

‘Atu has had a massive season for his club side and especially in the Hard Rock Cafe Origin Series where he played so well in every game for the South’ said Martin Coyd. ‘2014 was a very pleasing season as Atu appeared to have lost his drive, his mojo maybe, the year before and was just getting by. This year he has shown incredible power and strength going forward, rock solid defence and, perhaps the most pleasing part, is a developing ability to read the game and be in the right place. He is loved by his team mates and respected by the opposition. Top man’

Coyd added ‘I would also like to pay tribute to the Dragons Nominees on the night. Rob Butler was nominated for Mens League Young Player has had a huge season, standing out in every game and making the step up to Open Age in the later part of the season and cutting it in the men’s game. He picked up the highest honour at The Dragons with club Man of Steel Award’

‘Sam Sharpe was desperately unlucky not to walk away with the Under 16 Man of Steel Award after an outstanding season, especially in Origin when he was arguably the best player on the park. Sam also made the step up to Men’s Rugby League and made great progress under Rob Powell’

‘Rob Powell was also a nominee for Coach of the Year who just missed out. He has made a huge difference in his first season at the club and not just at First Team level. The First Team have had a real breakthrough in playing standards, were crowned SE Champions and were one win away from a National Cup Final. Rob is influencing the culture and coaching practices right through the club and will play a major role as we develop and make progress on our journey towards establishing a professional club in Kent’

‘Finally, Pal Bains who was up for Volunteer of the Year. Pal is my hero, a real visionary who is years ahead of his time. He works so hard at the fundamentals of recruiting, retaining and developing young players into the Primary Game and does it by ensuring that everyone has maximum fun, feels that they really belong and makes a difference every time’

Medway Dragons were also mentioned as Runners Up in the Junior RL Club of the Year and Primary RL Club of The Year, aptly on the eve of Super League Grand Final, which will be the date for London RL Awards Nights from now on.