HUNTER Central Coast AFL senior representative players will vie for new best-on-ground medals named after late Singleton Roosters stalwarts Nadene McBride and Andrew Scott.
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The league unveiled the women's and men's medals, along with a new annual league-wide award, at its 2023 presentation night.
McBride, who was to coach the women's representative side this year, and Scott, a former rep player, were among the 10 people who lost their lives in the Greta bus crash in June.
"Andrew was a very highly regarded and capped player, and Nadene was a very outstanding coach," AFL Hunter Central Coast chairperson Kim Sweetnam told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday.
Both the men's and women's regional representative sides were due to take on South Coast at Newcastle's No.1 Sportsground on Saturday, but the men's game has since been cancelled.
South Coast are understood to have not had enough numbers for a men's side for Saturday's fixture, and were forced to withdraw on Thursday afternoon.
The games were initially set to be played on the July long weekend, but were postponed after the bus crash.
Newcastle City's Kate Handley has taken on the women's coaching role in place of McBride.
"That was such a passion for Nadene, getting this rep program up and running," Handley said.
"She did a huge amount of work for the last five years.
"It's a really nice touch for the rep program."
Hunter Central Coast AFL also launched a Spirit of AFL Award, recognising broader efforts across the league.
"We always recognise the players on the field, the performances, who kicked the goals and our volunteers, but we've never recognised what brings all of that together," Sweetnam said.
"You can't get people and teams onto the field, and clubs happening, without having something that's intangible.
"We thought it's about that spirit of AFL, which is talking to support each other, respecting each other, picking each other up when you're down and lifting each other up when you're on a high.
"The inaugural Spirit of AFL Award was awarded to the Singleton Football Club.
"What they did this year was something that you never expect to have to deal with.
"Individuals, teams and clubs, every season there is something that comes up which is not about what happens on the field, it's about what happens off the field."
Meanwhile, the AFL are on the hunt for a new Hunter Central Coast competition manager after the resignation of Sam Cunningham following a year in the role.
