Railways captain Kathryn Slattery said it was “pretty surreal” to win her first Great Southern Football League Women’s fairest and best medal at the GSFLW awards night last Tuesday.

Slattery was a stand-out throughout the season for the Tigers, finishing on 20 votes to edge out teammate and former winner Ksharna Coyne by three votes.

The midfielder said she was honoured to receive the league’s highest individual honour after what has so far been a fairytale season for the Tigers, who will play for the premiership on Friday.

“Its pretty exciting for me — I love the game and I love footy and it was pretty surreal,” she said.

The Tigers star received a standing ovation from the crowd as the GSFLW community applauded her achievement.

“I was pretty taken aback (at the standing ovation) but it was a pretty surreal experience — just walking up was a pretty exciting thing to be apart of,” she said.

“A lot of people got up and cheered so it was a pretty nice feeling overall.”

Slattery, who as previously been a runner-up for the award, took out the gong in the midst of robust competition from fellow Tiger Coyne (17) and Mt Barker gun Sophie Richards who produced a strong campaign and finished third on 16 votes.

Last year’s winner, Albany midfielder Emily Wray (15), and dominant Denmark-Walpole ruck Siri Matthews (13) rounded out the top five.

Slattery admitted she had not expected to win the award after battling health issues throughout the season.

“I sort of struggled a little bit with chronic fatigue and had been a bit sick so I wasn’t really expecting it all and we got halfway through and I was like maybe I am in with a chance,” she said.

Despite the challenges, the former Hockeyroo said her passion for football and the strong culture at Tigerland continued to motivate her.

“I love being part of the Railways group,” she said.

“We’ve got a really great group of girls and good coaching staff and off-field team so I’ll definitely keep being involved for as long as my body can hold out.

“I think we’ve had really good team culture and a good group of girls this year and it has been really fun playing.

“I think that we can see that in the way we play.”

She praised the continued growth of women’s football in the Great Southern and said the standard of the competition was improving each year.

“I love the sport and love the way the league is going,” she said.

“I think it’s just increasing in its skill set every single year and I think its getting better and better.

“The better we can make the league here, the better we can make the youth.

“It’s only going to get bigger and stronger and I think that’s a really good thing for footy — not just in Albany but for all around.”

Slattery capped off a stellar season by also winning the Women’s Country Championships fairest and best award, while Bulls’ Sarah Eisenberg earned the Above and Beyond Award and Chelsea Geddes claimed the Whittle/Douglas award.

In the youth girls, Royals rising star Lily Chambers became the second player to win the youth girls fairest and best award.

Chambers finished on 19 votes, four ahead of Pippa Fiegert’s 15.

Holly Froehnelt finished third on 13 votes, followed by Ruby Lee (12 votes) and Leah Hughes (9).

In the goal kicking awards, Kangas’ Esteanne Newfield topped the youth girls with 13 goals across the 2026 season.

The GSFLW leading goal scorer was shared between Richards and Sharks’ Emilie Baird, both finishing on 16 goals apiece.