Darfield Rugby Football Club

We celebrated our Junior Prizegiving on Sunday!

It was awesome to see all our players enjoying their footy, making new friends, and having fun with their teammates this season.

A huge thank you to our incredible coaches and managers who give up their time to help our wee (and not-so-wee!) players learn new skills and, most importantly, have fun. And a special shout-out to our Junior Committee — none of this would happen without you!

Congratulations to all our award winners As the coaches said, choosing winners is the hardest job of all — they wish they could give every player an award!

Lucy Trafford-Adams- Year 1 Most Improved
Archie Bowater- Year 2 Most Improved
Jack Lamyman- Year 3 Red Most Improved
Danielle Makogon- Year 3 Blue Most Improved
Harry McIntosh- Year 4 Most Improved
Ronin Ball- Year 5 Red Most Improved
Henderson Stoddart- Year 5 Blue Most Improved
Alyce Dering- Year 6 Most Improved
Archie Lasenby- Year 7 Most Improved
Fletcher Gregg- Year 8 Most Improved
Frida Oberg- Year 9/10 Girls Most Improved

Tobias Sanders- Year 1 Most Dedicated
Riley Carston- Year 2 Most Dedicated
Archie Smith- Year 3 Red Most Dedicated
Arlo Pietzner- Year 3 Blue Most Dedicated
Harper Roughan- Year 4 Most Dedicated
Payton Roughan- Year 5 Red Most Dedicated
Isaac Bell- Year 5 Blue Most Dedicated
Harry Leech- Year 6 Most Dedicated
Joshua Henderson- Year 7 Most Dedicated
Fynn Grenfell- Year 8 Most Dedicated

Jake Mulholland- Year 7 Player of the Year
Sheiden Nu'u- Year 8 Player of the Year
Lilliana Cullen- Year 9/10 Girls Player of the Year

Oliver Hubbard- Year 3 Tackler of the Year
Henry Dalley- Year 4 Tackler of the Year
Reid Sweetman- Year 5 Tackler of the Year
Ryan Jacobs- Year 6 Tackler of the Year
Pete Warman- Year 7 Tackler of the Year
Liam Vanderweg- Year 8 Tackler of the Year

Tessa Afano-Faitaua- Most Improved Female
Paige Afano-Faitaua- Female Player of the Year
Jake Mulholland- JAB Sportsman of the Year

Enjoy your break, and we can’t wait to see you all back next season!

We celebrated the 2025 Senior Prize Giving on Saturday night, and it was a fantastic turnout from all teams!

Massive congratulations to all of the prize winners, the players for an amazing season, our awesome coaches, managers, trainers, and physios, as well as our fantastic sponsors and supporters.

And most of all, a huge thank you to the amazing committee for putting together such a fantastic night!

UNDER U21

Bernie Clinton Memorial Trophy

Most Improved U20 Player – Liam Stanbury

AJ (Tony) Lee Memorial Cup

Most Promising U21 Player – Tom Taylor

The Browning Family Trophy

Most Outstanding U21 Player – Lachie Daly

CH & LR Ridgen Cup

U21 Most valuable Player – Will Bain

DIVISION II

Thomson Trophy in Memorial of James

Senior Reserve Sportsman of the Year – Jared Court

CO Redfern Cup

Most Improved Player - Tom Heslop

Division II Most Dedicated Player – Nicholas Gardener

LJ (Rinso) Naughton Memorial Cup

Players Player of the Year – Reuben McLay

Darfield Hotel

Most Outstanding Div 2 Player – Roy McCaughan

DIVISION I

Most Dedicated Senior Player – Daniel Baxter

Steve Mitchell Trophy

Most Promising – Oskar Trafford

Robin Moore Memorial Trophy

Players Player of the Year – Ben Carter

Reveley Cup

Most outstanding - Joe Adams

Dean Carroll Memorial Trophy

Div 1 Personality of the Year – Caleb Baron

Division 1 Team Man of the Year – Hamish Inch

CLUB CUPS & TROPHIES

Bob Carter Most Outstanding

Open Grade Player – Harrison Groundwater

Hamish Reid Memorial Cup

Highest Representative Honours during the season –

Ellesmere Seniors - Konnor Chamberlain, Alister Collins

SG Gillanders Trophy

Team Manager of the Year – Joe Stewart

Tony Paterson Memorial

Most Improved Team – Colts

Centennial Trophy 1904-2004

Highest Achieving Team – Div 1

Brian Kars Memorial Trophy

Personality of the Year - James Roulston

Lenco Sports Cup

Player contributing most to the Club - Blair McIlroy

Darfield High School Trophy

Best off-field Contribution – Dan Mulholland & Ben Howden

Darfield Rugby Football Club NZ Couriers (L Duncan - Darfield)

JAB Sportsman of the Year (Under 18 down) - Jake Mulholland

Darfield Rugby Football Club

“Coach of the Year” - Angus Lang & Carl Smith

Darfield Rugby Football Club

Paul Stewart Committee Cup Best Committee Contribution - Grace Allan

Senior Clubmans Cup

Outstanding Contribution to the Club - Kelly McIlory

It’s not often players will mark up 300 senior club footy games, and fewer still who can say they began their days at the same club they put on boots for the very first time.

Blair McIlroy of Darfield Rugby Club started his rugby career at four years old. With no rippa back in the late 80’s, he jumped straight into tackle and has seemingly never looked back. McIlroy says it’s the “likeminded lads” and culture of the club that has kept him around for 34 years, “you meet a lot of good people” he said, “some guys live in town now, but they still make the effort to come out”.

Making his senior debut in 2003 as a teenager, McIlroy has had a unique perspective of watching players grow from their own first games of rugby as a junior all the way to running alongside him on the field, “They were playing midgets when I was playing senior rugby, now they’re sitting beside me in the shed sharing a beer” he said.

Not one to shy away from the hard stuff, McIlroy loves being part of the forwards “I quite like the physical part of rugby and there’s no better place to be than flanker to get out and about and make a few tackles”.

The club has seen McIlroy reach epic heights of playing for the Canterbury B team, Canterbury Country and Buller. These days, as well as continuing to play for Darfield’s Div 1 side, McIlroy coaches his son’s team, giving back to the club that he says has given him so much over the years.

McIlroy and his team will go against Prebbleton in the Ellesmere final this Saturday, a repeat of the 2022 match which he says his is favourite memory of his impressive Darfield career, “winning the Coleman shield, back in 2022, the first time in the club’s history. It was pretty special to be a part of that. We beat them in the last part of the game with a conversion” he recalled.

Get along to Kirwee Domain on Saturday to watch Darfield and Prebbleton, kicking off at 3pm, go head to head yet again for the Ellesmere Division 1 final, and see first hand who will be taking home the Coleman Shield for 2024.

*Word and imange taken from the Canterbury Rugby website*

https://www.canterburyrugby.co.nz/news/blairmcilroy300-t9f6s-d7nah-b57cc

Blair McIlroys huge shift for Darfield