Easts halfback Eli Pilz has today been named the 2025 Alec Evans Medal-winner while Wests centre Briana Dascombe has won the Selena Worsley Medal.
The high achievers were honoured with the major awards at the annual Queensland Premier Rugby StoreLocal Grand Final Breakfast at the Tattersall’s Club.
The morning also previewed an exciting weekend ahead with 11 grand finals at Ballymore Stadium. The Bond University-Easts grand final in the StoreLocal Founders Cup for women (2:45pm) is the peak Saturday match while the Brothers-Bond University grand final is Sunday's climax of the StoreLocal Hospital Cup (2:45pm).
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Pilz was third in 2024 voting for the Alec Evans Medal which gives a sharp read on the high standard he has maintained as a standout performer for the Tigers.
His 2025 season was recognised by regular nods from referees who awarded votes on a 3-2-1 basis for each game in the StoreLocal Hospital Cup.
Whether it was a sharp dart under his trademark man bun, playmaking shrewdly or booting a sideline conversion to snatch a win over Sunnybank on full-time, he was at the heart of the progress made by Easts in their jump from eighth to third this year.
He was a clearcut winner on 21 points by snaring five three-point votes and polling in 10 games.
Brothers’ Mr Consistency Brad Hemopo (13) was second for his sustained work in the pack while Bond University centre Tyler Campbell (12) was third with three three-point votes during the Bull Sharks’ rise.
Brothers back Ollie Harvey (12), University of Queensland’s Flynn McDermott (10), Souths flyhalf Lachie Stewart (10), GPS’ 2024 Medal-winner Matt Gicquel (10) and Uni hooker Zach Hough (10) also polled strongly.
“It’s an honour to win this award. It’s obviously a reflection of how the club improved with quite a successful year,” Pilz said in defelecting to his team.
“This competition is the reason why a lot of us keep coming back season after season. We turn up for trainings and for two or three hours on a Saturday you don’t think about anything else.
“This season, there were no games you could just roll into or rest players for. Norths and Sunnybank were competing with the top four sides.
“You had to play 80 minutes each week and that speaks volumes for the standard of the Hospital Cup.”
Dascombe’s impressive season for minor premiers Wests was a tonic after a crushed bone in her hand from a training collision had wiped out her Super Rugby Women’s season for the Queensland Reds before it started.
“I’d had a couple of seasons of serious injuries which were pretty horrible to be honest,” the Toowoomba product said.
“I literally found my love for the game again with Wests this season. It was so much fun playing with the girls.
“It was definitely not the way we wanted to end the season (with back-to-back losses in the finals) but there were lots of positives to take into next year.”
An Easts duo topped the pointscoring lists for men and women with Pilz (153) and Abbi Spooner (64) winning awards.
GPS hooker Quentin Raravula was given an armchair ride to 18 tries thanks to a well-drilled rolling maul which again means wingers are having to work harder and harder for an accolade they traditionally had under lock and key.
He was leading tryscorer in the Hospital Cup while elusive Bond University winger-centre Dianne Waight was a try-a-game force as the top women’s tryscorer (eight) in the StoreLocal Founders Cup.
Wests, with eight teams through to the semi-finals from firsts to fifth grade plus the three Colts divisions, won the Doughty Shield as club champions for the first time in 25 years for the depth of results through the grades.
The Horsley Trophy went to Brothers as minor premiers as did the Welsby Cup for the winners of the match between the 1st and 2nd-placed teams (Brothers vs Easts) at the halfway point of the season when they meet in Round Two.
Wests took the Geoff “Bunter” Shaw Challenge Cup (Bunter Bowl) which was presented by former Wallabies captain Shaw.
The prestigious Under-20s Player of the Year award honoured Souths centre Xavier Rubens, who recently made his Queensland Reds debut off the bench against Tonga in Nuku’alofa.
The lineage of players of the future to earn this award (formerly Colt of the Year) is well established with World Cup-winners Ben Tune, Tim Horan, David Wilson and Toutai Kefu among the previous winners as well as current Reds such as Harry Wilson, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips and Josh Flook.
2025 Queensland Premier Rugby Award Winners
StoreLocal Hospital Cup Top Try-scorer: - Quentin Raravula (GPS) - 18 tries
StoreLocal Hospital Cup Top Point-scorer: Eli Pilz (Easts) – 153 points
Premier Women’s Top Try-scorer: Dianne Waight (Bond University) – 8 tries
Premier Women’s Top Point-scorer: Abbi Spooner (Easts) – 64 points
StoreLocal Hospital Cup Try of the Year – Bas Hanna (Brothers)
Horsley Trophy – Minor Premiership – Brothers
Welsby Cup – Winner of Teams 1st and 2nd from Round 1 – Brothers
Doughty Shield – Club Championship – Wests
Geoff “Bunter” Shaw Challenge Cup (Bunter Bowl) – Wests
Under-20s Player of the Year – Xavier Rubens (Souths)
Andrew Cole Medal - Referees' Award – James Palmer
Fortune Shield – Women’s Minor Premiership - Wests
Selena Worsley Medal (Founders Cup Best and Fairest) – Briana Dascombe (Wests)
Alec Evans Medal (Hospital Cup Best and Fairest) – Eli Pilz (Easts)
