Mitchell Cornish may have been absent for the Goulburn Bulldogs' First Grade grand final loss to the Queanbeyan Blues, but he was never going to miss out on the CRRL presentation night at the Rex Hotel on Wednesday, August 28, which saw him win the biggest award of all.
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The Les McIntyre Award is the award given to the best and fairest player of the CRRL First Grade competition and Cornish was that man.
"It's a special moment for me," Cornish said.
"This came on the back of being in a great team and coach.
"It wasn't won highly on my own.
"My teammates have been outstanding this year and we really worked hard."
Bulldogs coach Adam Kyle was over the moon with the result and said Cornish had been outstanding all season.
"He's been very helpful with all his knowledge, not only for the playing group, but for myself as well," Kyle said.
"He's the best player in the competition by a country mile and I'm so proud of him to win that award.
"His biggest strength is his composure.
"As a coach, I'm really privileged to be working with someone like him."
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Bulldogs president Joe Stephens pinpointed the moment Cornish came to life.
"He's played consistently well, but the defining moment for him this year was probably after the Roos loss in the second round," Stephens said.
"That challenged him to run the ball more and since then, he has been outstanding."
Stephens also mentioned the things Cornish did off the field.
"It's been a long time since Goulburn has had some good playmakers in the team," he said.
"It's not only what Mitchell does on the field, it's what he does off the field with junior rugby league.
"The award tonight is an outstanding effort."
Although the Bulldogs will still be hurting from the grand final loss, it was still a fantastic season with 10 of the 34 awards presented to the Goulburn teams across the night.
U19s player Max Flack was the other best and fairest winner for the club.
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