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Staged at the opulent Peel Bar on Elgin Street, a crowd of more than 50 were joined by a global audience of millions and bore witness to one of the closest club fairest and best counts in living memory.
Joining Byrnes-eye on the podium were four other award winners - Boges, Nico, Corky and Junior Burger. Each was festooned with gifts and silverware for their efforts both on and off the field.
The newly inaugurated Best Newcomer award went to the man with the lowest centre of gravity in AFL football since South Fremantle's Scotty Watters, Dwight 'Junior Burger' Stuchbury.
Another newly-minted gong in the form of the Coaches Trophy was presented to Chris 'Quentin' Nicolay. Something of a misnomer, given coach Rigg is totally oblivious to the trophy's existence, the award was conceived and presented by the President who described it as "representing more than mere football ability (Ed: obviously?) but being awarded to the player who best encapsulates the spirit and endeavour that typifies this proud club" Or words to that effect.
And with the mint working overtime it was time to add another award to the rostrum for the first time. The President's Award, for some reason not chosen by the coach, went to the man who has single-handedly guided the club through the murky financial waters of season 2006. Michael 'Corky' Corcoran was the Chosen One in what the president described as "an award that goes to whoever the president reckons deserves one". End quote.
Finally, there was venerable award steeped in history, that of the Best Club Man. Craig 'Bogan' Francis was the man tasked with finding room on a burgeoning trophy shelf for this prestigious little cup. The wine rack will also have squeeze in the specially labelled Bogan Shiraz that came with the silverware. Bogan played his 40th largely ineffectual game for the Dragons in Shnghai but it was for his endeavours in the print media that he was humbled with the Clubman trophy.
Never to miss a chance on the microphone, Boges declared his passion for administering the team's website thus: "Some people get their kicks looking at porn on the internet but what gives me a hard-on is seeing that we've had ten hits from Paraguay on the website this month". The comment was accompanied by some gesticulations with the Bogan Shiraz as a prop.
But it was for the prestigious Ray Wood medal count that we had gathered and for sheer tension it was unmatched entertainment. Corky read the one-through-five votes awarded each game as Boges tallied them on the giant electronic scoreboard. With a single game to be counted it was Adrian Harrison who was our surprise leader by one vote from Byrnesy. Ades, who joined the count coverage via a satellite feed from Beijing, could only listen in fear as votes for called for the Shanghai game that he missed - and one which Byrne secured second-top votes to take the award.
Others to poll strongly were Dwight Stuchbury (10 votes), Colin Mitchell (9) and Shannon Morgan (7).
With the tv cameras finally turned off, the crowd embarked on a frenzied romp through gallons of all-inclusive bourbon, beer, wines and some food until the small hours of the morning.
Among the many and varied highlights were The Godfather Winesy talking to the bar top face-down (and it later transpired, losing his phone), Farmer making an unwelcome breach of his ban on public speaking and getting the C-word in there in the first 18 seconds, Byrnesy showing his soft side with an emotional tribute to his fiance Sal during his acceptance speech, Besty (just being Besty), Tatey for his social skills and the ladies who looked respendent in their evening gowns.
It was another successful night for the finest Aussie Rules collective in Asia or beyond.
The full list of annual award winners can be found on the website under History, Club Honours.
To learn about the namesake of our club champion award, go to 'News' on main menu and scroll down to story third from bottom of page, 'Founding Father Ray Wood Reflects'.
Craig 'Bogan' Francis
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