Delight for Dorr following medal win
Simon Dorr, of the Mallee Pirates, was recently crowned the winner of the Andrew Smith Medal as the best and fairest player in the 2020 SA Super League season.
Each round the allocated umpire for each league match and coaches of both sides were allocated 3, 2 and 1 votes each, to select the top three performed players across the three rinks of that match.
Dorr is the third different winner of the award from three seasons, with Nathan Black and Will McPharlin having won the award previously.
Dorr, who is a member at the Salisbury Bowling Club, said he was unaware he had won the medal until messages of congratulations began filtering through.
“I was with the kids on a holiday,” he said.
“I think it was (Bowls SA CEO) Mark Easton, who sent me a message saying well done, but I didn’t actually realise the count was on.
“I was very thrilled and excited when I found out.”
Dorr was happy with his form during the Mallee Pirates’ 2020 campaign.
“I played six out of the seven games and the games that I polled votes in I thought I played really well, then the two that I didn’t poll I wasn’t so good,” he said.
“I was happy with my performances.”
Dorr said he thinks the SA Super League is “awesome”.
“I love the concept,” he said.
“I remember talking to Mark (Easton) a few years ago about it before it started up and he was looking to try and get things going around bowls in South Australia.
“It has been executed awesomely, especially this most recent season had some really appealing additions, which I found really exciting.”
The Pirates’ star polled eight of a possible nine votes in his side’s round one clash with the Western Rogues, however a perfect nine votes saw Tony Lucas, of the South Eastern Spartans, hold the lead in the count.
After receiving no votes in round two, Dorr slipped to equal fifth, with Mark Haines, of the Central Chargers, assuming the overall lead.
A standout performance saw Lucas recapture the lead in the count following round three, with Dorr once again not featuring in the votes.
Dorr bounced back in convincing fashion with a performance, which received nine votes, against the Northern Knights in round four, and this saw him join Lucas at the top of the leaderboard.
Dorr backed it up with seven votes in round five against the Heysen Comets, with this seeing him move four votes clear at the top with just two rounds left to be counted.
Round six saw Dorr go voteless and a big performance from Haines saw him head into the final round with a one vote lead at the top.
A perfect nine-vote effort against Eastern Raiders in the final round was enough to see Dorr clinch a five-vote win over Nathan Black, of the South Eastern Spartans, while Ashley Halls, of the Southern Blazers finished third.
The count, which was posted as a video on the Bowls SA Facebook page, can be found here: https://fb.watch/2s9oRwvhN6/
