Brisbane Lions’ defender Lily Postlethwaite has been rewarded for her hard work over the AFLW off-season, awarded joint winner of the QAFLW Emma Zielke Medal at the QAFLW Awards on Sunday night.
Just three weeks after sustaining a second heartbreaking ACL injury, Postlethwaite has been recognised for her outstanding QAFLW season, jointly awarded the competition’s Best and Fairest Medal alongside Southport’s Selina Priest.
The 20-year-old had a dominant season for the Maroochydore Roos, where despite only playing 8 of 16 fixtured games, the young defender averaged 27 possessions at 75 percent efficiency and six tackles per match.
Postlethwaite advanced to the lead of the count in Round 13, her last game for the Roos’ before returning to AFLW duties at the Lions.
Sitting on 15 votes at the end of Round 13 and four votes ahead of her nearest competitor, Postlethwaite was only caught by Priest in the final round, with the pair forcing a tie and jointly awarded the Best and Fairest honour.
The Emma Zielke medal, named after Brisbane Lions AFLW Premiership Captain Emma Zielke, is Queensland AFL’s highest individual footballing honour.
Postlethwaite was also named in the Bond University QAFLW Team of the Year alongside Brisbane Lions’ teammate Ava Seton.
First-year Lion Seton was awarded the Bond University QAFLW Rising Star after her standout season with the University of Queensland (UQ).
Seton was the difference in the QAFLW Grand Final, kicking the goal that sent the game into overtime and ultimately saw UQ win the Premiership.
Brisbane Lions Head Coach Craig Starcevich said that the accolade was a bittersweet achievement for Postlethwaite.
“Pretty much all the way through [AFLW] Season Six, even though Lily was unavailable, she was regularly in our best six or so on the track,” Starcevich said.
“So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to us that she was able to drop back into QAFLW and dominate, but that’s often a mindset thing, not just a physical thing, for our players. You have to go back and develop relationships with new teammates and that can be challenging.
“But Lily is someone who loves the work and loves the challenge. She’s an excellent teammate wherever she goes, whether it’s a State League Club or the Brisbane Lions, she quickly earns the respect of whichever playing group she’s in.
“She had played eight or so games of really high level State League footy which was going to prepare her well for Season 7 of AFLW, so the last thing on our minds was her getting hurt in the first few minutes of her return game.”
