Cornish Pirates – Awards 2019/20

Cornish Pirates – Awards 2019/20
Award 6

Most Improved Player

Like other awards, to be considered the most improved player is a true honour for deserved recipients. It acknowledges the efforts they have made to improve and develop their game for the benefit of themselves and the team.

Previous winners are: 1990 Peter Jackson, 1991 John Thomas, 1992 Ian James, 1993 Martin Murrish, 1994 Ben Eddy, 1995 Lee Davies, 1996 Lee Davies, 1997 Steve Holdsworth, 1998 Nick Yelland, 1999 Peter Redgrave, 2000 Mark Richards & Richard Carroll, 2001 James Hawken, 2002 Ben Hilton, 2003 Ashley Morcom, 2004 Matt Jess, 2005 Rhodri McAtee, 2006 Sam Betty, 2007 Sam Heard, 2008 Darren Dawidiuk, 2009 Nicky Griffiths, 2010 Rob Cook, 2011 Paul Andrew, 2012 Tom Kessell, 2013 Peter Joyce, 2014 Alex Cheesman, 2015 Alex Dancer, 2016 Marlen Walker, 2017 Jack Innard, 2018 John Stevens, 2019 AJ Cant.

There were several candidates for this award, however few would argue that the player with most votes this year is a fully deserved recipient. It is – Maliq Holden.

Joint Head Coaches Alan Paver and Gavin Cattle have both commented reference Maliq’s award.

Alan said:

Great effort from Mal. When he first arrived, I thought he was a good student of the game and always willing to learn. At the beginning of the season he just took a massive leap forward and he quickly put himself in position of number one at times both at full back and wing. I think his progression was so vast this past season that it had to be recognised, but I still believe he has more in the tank.

Gavin added:

Mal is a highly competitive back three player who has really stepped up this year and taken his chances. He has some incredible standout moments this season, his try saving tackle away at Nottingham is a great example. Yes, he has really made a step up to the mark.

 

Note: The next 2019/20 award to be announced will be at 12 noon tomorrow.