They might not have been playing in the Origin Energy Premier League Grand Final this year, but there was plenty reason for the Panthers to smile at Netball Central on Wednesday night.
Opens athlete Lauren Woods was named the Premier League Player of the Year, taking home the Nance Kenny OAM Medal for 2020.
Despite the Panthers undergoing a rebuild and having some tough results in 2020, Woods stood out as a major talent in the high performance competition.
Every year the Nance Kenny OAM Medal is presented to a Premier League player who has displayed consistent, outstanding performances throughout the season and is voted on using a 3, 2 1 system at each match.
Named after an icon of netball in this state, Kenny was inducted into the Netball NSW Hall of Fame in 2011 after providing over 50 years of administration excellence at association, state, national and international levels of the game.
Netball NSW Competitions Manager Claire Dale congratulated Woods on her stellar year:
"The Premier League is the peak competition on offer in NSW so to be named the league MVP is a wonderful achievement," she said.
"I think Lauren winning this year also demonstrates the wide pool of talent we have across all teams, not just the ones who contested the Finals Series in 2020.
"The Panthers should be very proud of this award too and we can't wait to see more of what Lauren can do in the coming year."
There was also good news for the Panthers at the NSW Swifts' Gala Dinner over the weekend with squad member Leilani Rohweder awarded the Marj Groves AM Scholarship.
Rohweder was called into the NSW Swifts squad for the Suncorp Super Netball season in Queensland, which ended last month.
