Black and Whites' Andrew Lavaka and Leeton Green's Hayden Philp will share the Ray Thorpe Medal in Group 20 2021 season

Black and Whites coach Andrew Lavaka was named alongside his Leeton counterpart Hayden Philp as the best and fairest for the Group 20 first grade competition.

It comes as little surprise that two players from these two clubs took out the honour after they finished level on points at the end of the season, with the Black and Whites taking the minor premiership on points differential.

Lavaka, who had previously won the award in 2011 when he was playing out at Yenda, was surprised to get the nod.

"They don't come around often, and I am very grateful, and I have to give it back to the boys who stood up week-in, week-out," Lavaka said.

"There is some talent in my team. I believe that everyone in the team could have picked up the award."

While it was difficult to end the season the way it did, Lavaka took a philosophical approach to the year.

"No one wanted what happened to the season, and hopefully, we don't have to go through that in the future," Lavaka said.

"It is what it is and what we faced, and it was good to just play footy."

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Philp, who has quite the impact in his two season in Group 20, having taken out the Ray Thorpe Medal in his first season in the competition in 2019, was the favourite to take out the award before the season was cancelled due to the lockdown.

"You hear a few things, but I thought there were some other great guys in the competition, and obviously, Andrew Lavaka is a tough opponent," Philp said.

"In every game that we played against them, he was one of their best. Even some of our boys in Cam Bruest, Kirtis (Fisher) and Will Barnes. You could name nearly the whole side, they all put in the effort."

Philp is the first player to go back to back since Glenn Dumbrell did it in 2015 and 2016 and is the first Leeton player to take it out since Linton Price in 2007.

For the Black and Whites, it is the first time since 2005 when it was won by Jason Fuller, and it was a three-way tie that year with Franky Fiumara from Leeton and Trevor Richards from Yenda.

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