A season of dominance capped with winning the Australian Ultimate League championship with the Sydney Suns has resulted in Tom Rogacki being named the Damiani Medal winner male MVP for 2019.
Rogacki, the equal-oldest player in the league at 42, won the title with Melbourne in the inaugural AUL season in 2018 before moving to the Suns in the off-season.
He helped steer the Suns through an unbeaten regular season campaign and three sets to one win over the Brisbane Breakers in the grand final at Leichhardt Oval.
It was a true season of dominance, with Rogacki notching up 28 assists for the regular season – nine more than his closest opposition. Not only was he able to pinpoint receivers, but he was also the league’s best at the pull, routinely putting his side in dominant field position.
In typical Rogacki fashion, he differed the honour to his teammates who he said blazed the way for the Suns season of success.
“I never play for individual awards and I never expect them,” he said.
“A lot of people talked about the number of assists I had, but I think the most hard-working players were the receivers with their timing.
“I had brilliant teammates there that made life easy in the final and during the season.
“It is humbling, I am not sure how many more chances I will get to play at this level. It is nice to get the accolade, but it is humbling and awkward because we are playing a team sport.”
The Damiani Medal is named after Australian Ultimate legend John ‘JD’ Damiani who founded Sublime Ultimate Club and took the sport to new levels in his home state of Perth and across the country.
Damiani was a key driver in growing the sport during difficult times in the early 2000s and has also been a strong advocate for the growth of the women’s and mixed competitions in Australia.