Brisbane Lions Midfielder, UQ Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Sciences graduate & UQ Sport Elite Athlete Officer Emily Bates has become the second AFLW player to scoop all three major end-of-season awards in the same year.
Having already been named the league's best and fairest, and the coaches' association's (AFLCA) MVP, Brisbane's Bates on Wednesday night received the MVP award from the players' association (AFLPA).
Just a day after she clinched the competition's best and fairest title, the Lions vice-captain was voted player of the year by her peers with 286 votes.
Lions coach Craig Starcevich said Bates's string of accolades would "cement her right at the top" of the competition.
"When Emily started … she was already accomplished but perhaps in the shadows of some of the bigger names and Victorian-based midfielders," he told the AFLPA website.
"Now that she's in her mid-20s and played 53 games, she's got real status in the competition.
"She's always searching for an edge, or looking to improve herself … she's never [been] complacent."
