A wide mix of sports and angles populated the submissions, comprising straightforward news reports and in-depth people stories.

From sisters returning to an Eyre Peninsula netball club, to a Paralympic dream realised, to a club mascot’s milestone and everything in between, the entries showed that sport continues to play a valuable role in rural communities – and is deserving of the prominence, space and resources dedicated to it by member newspapers.

As expected, quality varied, with several otherwise strong entries (featuring interesting information, clearly harvested from well-planned interviews) just missing the winners’ podium, due to slightly clunky sentences and/or repetitive use of quotes. An extra splash of creativity would have benefited others.

It’s worth noting that more than one entry – including one soon to be mentioned – neglected to name the actual sport being written about, or failed to include it somewhere near the start of the story, and were marked down as a result. Tip: Don’t always assume reader knowledge.

Overall it was a deep field of entries, with little separating the winner and runner-up.

Several entries that narrowly missed the podium deserve to be highly commended, namely:

The Courier: Cup Runneth Over, by Jeff Pistola

A thorough, info-packed and well-compiled recount of Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jamie Melham’s journey from the Adelaide Hills to winning Australia’s most iconic thoroughbred race. Unlucky to miss the top three.

The Murray Pioneer: From Renmark to Kent State, by Lachlan Dand

An interesting read, with excellent use of quotes, about a Riverland lad now playing college football – gridiron – in the US.

The Southern Argus: Potter’s New Venture, by Deirdre Graham

A good old-fashioned yarn about locally based jockey Justin Potter’s career in the saddle and his future plans. Again it featured excellent use of quotes, and touched on all the important parts of Potter’s career.

Third place:

The Border Watch: Back on track, by James Murphy

James Murphy’s story about motorbike rider Barry Collins and his long road to overcome a heart attack and cancer to take part in the Cancer Council Cup event was aided by strong material and the writer’s smooth, easy-to-read style.

Arguably, it could have featured anywhere in the paper, but nonetheless it was an excellent read, even minus specific mention of the sport itself.

Runner-up:

The Bunyip: Young Bulldogs stars share AFL dreams, by Liam Phillips

A comprehensive, lengthy and thoroughly researched piece on four local under-age footballers preparing for the possibility of playing in the AFL.

It is clear the journalist is across his topic, writing with complete authority.

Liam Phillips did extremely well to link the interviews together in a coherent manner.

With a little spit and polish, this item wouldn’t be out of place as a feature piece in a metropolitan daily. Well done, Liam.

Winner:

Mt Barker Courier: Thai me down, by Jeff Pistola

An engaging account of a local man’s rise to prominence in the Asian-dominated world of Muay Thai fighting, and – more particularly – of his now-extraordinary lifestyle.

The story was packed full of information that would interest most people completely unfamiliar with the sport – and the culture.

Relatively tightly written, the journalist allowed his subject, Ned Tucker, to tell much of the story.

The narrative was expertly structured, resulting in the reader maintaining interest throughout, and ensuring what could have been an inaccessible topic instead had broad appeal.