Sport

Achieving on & off the sporting field

Deadlys Nominees 2011: Male Sportsperson of the Year

Benn Harradine

Benn began to make a name for himself in the field event of discus throwing after fighting his way through to the final at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Then, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Benn became the first Indigenous field athlete to represent Australia at the Olympics, having already broken the Australian record in discus throwing twice.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Benn became the first Indigenous Australian to win a field medal at a major championship, throwing a distance of 65.45m to win the Gold.

Daniel Geale

Tasmanian-born Daniel Geale won both Australian and Oceania welterweight titles as an amateur boxer, as well as a Gold Medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Daniel turned professional in 2004, and amassed an impressive record of 17 wins from 17 bouts before clinching the IBO middleweight title. After a comprehensive points victory over former world-title holder Roman Karmazin in October 2010, in May 2011, Daniel defeated Sebastian Sylvester in Germany to become the new IBF middleweight world champion.

Patrick Mills

Patrick was drafted by NBA team the Portland Trailblazers at the 2009 NBA Draft, following two stand-out seasons playing for St Marys College in California where he broke several school scoring records.

After an injury interrupted first year in the NBA, In the 2010/11 season, Patrick enjoyed more minutes on the court and also became the first Indigenous Australian to play in the NBA play-offs. A Season highlight was an NBA career-high 23-points game against Golden State in the final game of the regular season.

Kurtley Beale

Kurtley was signed by the NSW Waratahs rugby union club at age 16, and at 17, joined his first Wallabies’ training camp. By the start of the 2008 Super 14 season, Kurtley had established himself as the Waratahs’ first choice five-eight, and in 2009 he made his Wallabies debut.

In 2010, Kurtley was shifted to the fullback position where he produced several standout performances. The year was also his biggest on the international stage and he finished the year with 7 tries from 12 test appearances for Australia.

Des Abbott

Recognised as being one of the top strikers in international hockey, Des made his senior Australian debut in 2007 and in 2008 helped Australia to clinch victory at the 2008 Champions Trophy, scoring a crucial goal in the final match.

Des was a member of the bronze-medal winning Australian team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and was named Sportsperson of the Year at the 2009 Northern Territory Sports Awards.

In 2010, Des was a member of the Australian squad who won the Champions Trophy in Germany, and he also won a Gold Medal with the squad at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

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