Star duo share Haisman Shield's Lightfoot Medal

Those in attendance at the Sherbourne Hotel were glued to their seats, as Brett polled three-straight best-on-ground performances in the final three rounds of the season to tie with last year's winner.

With Nolan on 19 votes after 11 rounds and a lead of six, Brett's two classy performances against Katandra and Old Students ensured the medal would be split.

It was a historic night for Brett, who becomes the first cricketer to win a Lightfoot Medal since the formation of Northerners Cricket Club.

The pair finished the heart-stopping vote count ahead of Mooroopna spearhead bowler Henry Barrow (16 votes), while Shepparton United's Keegan Armstrong (12) and Central Park-St Brendan's gun Ramadan Yze (12) shared equal-fourth.

It was a decade on from the last time the medal was shared, when Andrew Riordan, Mick Lewis and Chris Keady finished on 12 votes in 2009-10.

The former Northerners teammates highlighted how special it was to share the individual honour alongside each other.

“It's a great feeling to go back-to-back, but it's an ever better feeling to share it alongside Joel,” Nolan said.

“To stand up there alongside him, after playing together a few years ago, I couldn't think of a better person to share it with.”

“It's pretty surreal, to win alongside ‘Barney’ is pretty special,” Brett said.

“And to be told I'm the first Northerners player to win is something that I will no doubt look back on fondly.”

It was a special night for many, none more so than Nolan, who went back-to-back for the first time since Karramomus legend Keady in 2004.

Nolan started the season much like his last, with five consecutive best-afield matches, and sat on a whopping 17 votes out of a possible 21 at the Christmas break.

Nagambie only claimed one more win for the season, and in the round 11 victory against Katandra, Nolan earned two votes to lock in his second Lightfoot Medal in as many years.

“I was able to start the year pretty well, but dropped away at the end,” Nolan said.

“Even though I had a lead I knew Joel had a great finish to the season and I'm rapt for him to win as well.”

Meanwhile, the Lightfoot Medal was just the start of many accolades for Brett last night, who featured highly in Outside The Box's take on the top 10 Haisman Shield players.

The Jets star claimed the A-grade Cricketer of the Year award on 861 points and went back-to-back in the under-23 Cricketer of the Year gong, finishing ahead of Waaia's Jordan Cleeland (694) and Tatura's Michael Archer (558).

Brett starred with the ball this summer — racking up 42 wickets — as he claimed the bowling average with an extraordinary 8.95.

“Last year I struggled with the ball and grabbed a couple of wickets, but I was able to turn it around this year which was great,” Brett said.

“It's satisfying to take home a couple of individual honours, but it was disappointing to finish the year early, you play for team success and hopefully we can be in Nagambie and Numurkah's shoes next year.”

● Although the remaining A-grade awards were dominated by Brett, multiple clubs were represented in the other categories.

Armstrong claimed the competition's batting average with a superb 504 runs at 45.82, while Kyabram's Paul Newman (526 runs at 43.83) enjoyed a terrific first season in the league by finishing with the most runs award.

Mooroopna's Barrow was the most threatening bowler in the Haisman Shield, finishing with a mesmerising 49 wickets at 10.33.

And teammate Shoaib Shaikh was awarded the Kent Crosby Memorial Trophy as the best Country Week player.

Team of the Year

Keegan Armstrong (Shepparton United)

Dylan Grandell (Numurkah)

Paul Newman (Kyabram)

Luke Nolan (Nagambie)

Jedd Wright (Katandra)

Kyle Mueller (Kyabram)

Mark Nolan (Nagambie)

Jack McCarten (Central Park-St Brendan's)

Henry Barrow (Mooroopna)

Joel Brett (Northerners)

Callan McCabe (Old Students)

Liam Callagari (Old Students)