Sports Reporter
IT’s that time of the year when the Lion Lager National Rugby League (LLNRL) honours players, officials and referees who have excelled in the season.
The LLNRL awards will be held tomorrow (Saturday) in Harare at a local hotel.
Nine categories will see players, officials and referees competing for the top accolades.
They include; Player of the Year, Backline player of the year, Forward of the Year, Rookie of the year, Most Disciplined Player of the Year, NRL Referee of the Year, Coach of the Year, Top Try of the Year and Top Points of the Year.
Veterans Costa Dinha, Daniel Hondo and Grant Mitchell will face-off in the Most Disciplined Player of the Year.
Gardner Nechironga will rue misbehaving in the match against Old Georgians on April 20.
The red card he earned meant automatic disqualification from the Player of the Year category.
Nechironga will no longer vie for the Player of the Year award leaving Harare Sports Club’s Teddy Hwata and FaraiJijita of Old Georgians in the contest.
Jijita is also in for another award as he was nominated for the Forward of the Year category where he will need to shrug-off competition from Tawanda Chowe of Old Hararians and Matabeleland Warriors’ Lucky Sithole.
Cyprian Madenge who guided Old Hararians to the 2013 LLNRL title is the favourite to scoop the Coach of the Year award.
He faces competition from Sykes Sibanda of Harare Sports Club and George Mukorera of Bulawayo’s Western Panthers.
In the referees’ category, two Mashonaland referees Scott Mcdonnel and Gabriel Masenda will battle against Matabeleland’s Simba Danga for the accolade.
1. Player of the Year
Gardner Nechironga – Old Hararians
Teddy Hwata – Harare Sports Club
Farai Jijita – Old Georgians
2. Backline Player of the Year
Kuda Chiwanza – Old Georgians
Magunje Gweru – Gweru Sports Club
Teddy Hwata – Harare Sports Club
3. Forward of the Year
Tawanda Chowe – Old Hararians
Farai Jijita – Old Georgians
Lucky Sithole – Matabeleland Warriors
4. Rookie of the Year
Walter Gode – Matabeleland Warriors
David Makamba – Harare Sports Club
Josh Mutasa – Harare Sports Club
5. Most Disciplined Player of the Year
Daniel Hondo – Harare Sports Club
Costa Dinha – Old Hararians
Grant Mitchel – Old Georgians
6. NRL Referee of the Year
Scott Mcdonnel – Mashonaland Rugby Referees Society
Gabriel Masenda – Mashonaland Rugby Referees Society
Simba Danga – Matabeleland Rugby Referees Society
7. Coach of the Year
Sykes Sibanda – Harare Sports Club
George Mukorera – Western Panthers
Cyprian Mandenge – Old Hararians
8. Top Try Scorer
Steven Hunduza – Harare Sports Club
9. Top Points Scorer
Teddy Hwata – Harare Sports Club