Oakleigh Cannons attacking midfielder, Joe Guest was crowned as the 2022 Mike Cockerill Medallist on Saturday night.
The award commemorates the outstanding passion for, service to and visionary coverage of football by the late Michael Cockerill. The Medal was inaugurated by television colleagues at Fox Sports in the wake of his premature death from illness at age 56.
EXPLAINED: Everything you need to know about the Mike Cockerill Medal
Guest netted four times on Oakleigh’s run to the final four which saw him finish equal second on the competition’s top scorer charts, just one shy of Golden Boot winner Al Hassan Toure.
The Mike Cockerill Medal awarded to the best non A-League Player in this season’s Australia Cup is the latest accolade in a trophy laden year for the 28-year-old Englishman.
Guest won the NPL Victoria Championship with the Cannons, scoring in his sides 5-0 Grand Final win over South Melbourne and was awarded the Bill Fleming Medal as the league’s Media Player of the Year.
The Englishman, who’s developed a reputation for his eye for goal and ability in tight areas has spent four seasons with the Cannons after arriving at Jack Edwards Reserve in 2019 from Curzon Ashton in Greater Manchester.
Upon being presented with the medal prior to Saturday's Australia Cup Final Guest reflected on a stellar season, paying credit to all involved in a season that saw the Cannons fire on all fronts.
“Now the dust has settled a bit, we’ve managed to celebrate and it’s been a joyful time for the Club and a really good thing to be a part of,” Guest said.
“I think beating your arch-rivals in the Grand Final 5-0, I don’t think anyone could say that they could top that, so that would probably be my standout moment of the season.
“But there was a number, obviously, the cup run was immense, beating an A-League team like Sydney, giving Macarthur a run for their money.
“We feel as though things may have been slightly different if we didn’t get injuries during the game, we felt like we were well within it but obviously, we’re not bitter about that.
“They’re a good side and we’re really happy with the performance and the season that we put in, so we’re made up with how we did and credit to everyone that was involved.”
Guest joins Elvis Kamsoba, Fraser Hills and Finn Beakhurst as the fourth player to win the Mike Cockerill Medal.
