The BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls held our Presentation Gala on Friday night to conclude our 2023 season.

Players, coaches, staff, sponsors and guests arrived at the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club, eager to see the winner of numerous Seagulls awards, in particular the Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership Player of Year.

A few special awards were announced on the night, including Daryl Short being awarded the Mitch Cronin Medal as the Club Person of the Year. In 2023, ‘Shorty’ coached our Hastings Deering Colts to the Top 8, managed the football operations and player welfare at the club, and was also the groundsman at BMD Kougari Oval. Safe to say he’s a valued member of the Seagulls community and the club would struggle to run without his input.

Josh Rogers was recognised for setting a single-season points record (241) for the Seagulls, and Matt Milson won the Anthony ‘Chook’ Schweitzer Memorial Trophy as the supporter’s best player of the season. Our Volunteer of the Year was announced as Jason Salisbury who was stationed in the Chook Pen this season. Our supporters have Jason to thank for their smooth experience at the Chook Pen bar during 2023.

Matthew Milson won the Hostplus Cup Player of the Year after returning to the club he played 4 games for across the 2018-19 seasons. Milson had 12 tries, 11 try assists, 11 linebreaks, and ran for 3,313m, while playing in all 23 Hostplus Cup game this season. He was electric at fullback, reliable under the high ball, and heavily involved in the Seagulls attack as his impressive stats show.

Julia Robinson won the BMD Premiership Player of the Year after a fantastic debut season at the Seagulls. Robinson played 8 games and scored 2 tries, had 2 try assists, 6 linebreaks, made 70 tackles and ran for nearly 1000m across the season.

Full list of Seagulls award winners:
Hostplus Cup Player of the Year (Presented by Wynnum Manly Leagues Club) – Matt Milson
Hostplus Cup Players’ Players (Presented by BMD) – Ollie Pascoe

Mitch Cronin Medal (Club Person of the Year) – Daryl Short

BMD Premiership Player of the Year (Presented by Joan Pease MP) – Julia Robinson
BMD Premiership Players’ Player (Presented by BMD) – Jayda Lofipo

Hastings Deering Colts Player of the Year – John Radel
Hastings Deering Colts Players’ Player – John Radel

Most Diligent Player (Presented by Wynnum Manly Old Boys) – Cooper Page-Wilson
Arch Geary Shield (Volunteer of the Year) – Jason Salisbury
Anthony Schweitzer Memorial Trophy (Supporter’s Award – Presented by Sean Oliver) – Matt Milson
Single Season Points Record – Josh Rogers (241 points)

Trevor Niebling Shield (Best Junior to Senior)
Male – Blake Anders
Female – Destiny Mino-Sinapati

Cyril Connell Challenge U16s Player of the Year – Chaev Kolone
Cyril Connell Challenge U16s Players’ Player – Tyler Pereira
Mal Meninga Cup U18s Player of the Year – Kylem Vunipola
Mal Meninga Cup U18s Players’ Player – Beni Allen
Harvey Norman Women U19s Player of the Year – Destiny Mino-Sinapati
Harvey Norman Women U19s Players’ Player – Sienna Lofipo

Rugby league icon and Seagulls legend, Lionel Morgan, has passed away aged 85.

Lionel was a pioneer of rugby league and is widely recognised as the first Indigenous player to represent Australia in any major sporting code.

Representing the Wynnum Manly Seagulls from 1959-68, Lionel also played for QLD 12 times and Australia 3 times. In 2008, Lionel was named on the wing in the Indigenous Team of the Century.

He still holds the club record for the most tries in one match – six against Souths at Davies Park in 1964. He was Wynnum Manly’s captain-coach between 1965-67.

The 4 Morgan sons, David, Brad, Earl and Chris, all spent time playing for Wynnum Manly throughout their rugby league careers.

Lionel left a significant legacy at the Seagulls, and we tried to honour him through the introduction of the Lionel Morgan Medal for our Player of the Match on North Stradbroke Island in recent years. Lionel was also the first player to appear on our Seagulls ‘walk of fame’ at our front entry gate, given his incredible contribution to the game and the inspiration he has provided to Indigenous youth.

The Seagulls express our condolences to the entire Morgan family at this time.