MTN Golden Lions coach, John Mitchell, and DHL Western Province flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis were today named as the Absa Currie Cup Coach and Player of the Month for August.
The Absa Currie Cup Coach of the Month competition is designed to acknowledge and reward coaches for their outstanding leadership. Players, who are consistent and significantly contribute to the overall performance of the team, come into the reckoning for the Player of the Month award.
A media panel, consisting of respected journalists and commentators, were unanimous in their choice of the Golden Lions coach for the month of August.
Mitchell has moulded the Golden Lions into a winning-team that has performed admirably both on attack and defence and the statistical records of the current Absa Currie Cup log leads are also extremely impressive.
In August, the Lions secured good wins over arch-rivals the Vodacom Blue Bulls and Toyota Free State Cheetahs, and only narrowly suffered their first defeat of the season recently against DHL Western Province. Their current form clearly indicates that the Lions are the form team of the tournament, showing commendable flair on attack and resoluteness on defence.
Demetri Catrakilis received the majority of the votes for his stand-out performances during the second month of the Absa Currie Cup action. The unerring boot of the young flyhalf saw DHL Western Province claim a thrilling 28-26 victory over the MTN Golden Lions to end their unbeaten streak at DHL Newlands on Friday, 19 August.
Overall sentiment for Catrakilis has been his fantastic contribution as flyhalf. The Varsity Cup product from UCT kicked a perfect seven from seven off the tee and slotted a drop goal in a match-winning 23-point haul to hand the Johannesburg side their first loss of their Absa Currie Cup campaign and end the host’s two-match losing streak.
Players Josh Strauss (Golden Lions loose forward and captain) and Marcel Coetzee (Sharks loose forward), as well as Naka Drotské and Leon Boshoff, coaches of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Platinum Leopards respectively, were also nominated for their fantastic performances in August.
