Ryan Daniels scoops top prize as Seven West Media dominate WA Footy Media Awards

For the fifth straight year 7NEWS Perth sports presenter Ryan Daniels has been named WA’s best football media performer at the 2024 WA Football Media Guild Awards.

Daniels took home the Geoff Christian Medal for Excellence across a season on a night which saw The West Australian and 7NEWS Perth score prominent wins across all categories.

Five journalists from The West Australian – Jakeb Waddell, Mitchell Woodcock, Jackson Barrett, Chris Robinson and Ben Smith – claimed gongs at last night’s ceremony, with photographer Jackson Flindell also joining the winner’s list.

Daniels was once again recognised across multiple categories, including best columnist, Best TV feature and Best TV Breaking News.

Hard Ball Gets, the podcast Daniels co-hosts along with Hawthorn premiership player Xavier Ellis and Nick Rynne, was also named Best Football Program ahead of a stacked field including broadcast and radio products. The podcast has enjoyed a record year, with more than 400,000 downloads and 1.5 million social video views.

Jakeb Waddell, The West Australian’s sports editor, won the Jack Lee Award for the best print story of the year with his bombshell exclusive detailing how a growing number of West Coast players did not want Adam Simpson to coach beyond the 2024 season.

It was revealed multiple players wanted change at the end of the year, despite Simpson still being contracted. The future of the long-serving Eagles premiership coach was the biggest football story of the season in Perth.

The West sport’s chief of staff Jackson Barrett won the Tracey Lewis Emerging Media Talent award for his work in print and podcasting, as well as the WA Country Football League and WAFC Community Football prizes for his popular weekly Bush and ‘Burbs column.

Ben Smith won the Best Match Coverage award for his outstanding analysis of matches at AFL and WAFL level, including a piece on Josh Treacy’s breakout game against Richmond at Optus Stadium in July

The Colin Minson Best WAFL Coverage award went to Mitchell Woodcock for his coverage of matches throughout the season, including all angles of the finals series, his annual ranking of the top 40 players in the league and exclusive stories that shaped the league, including the Peel Thunder pre-season camp controversy and an assistant coach banned for almost half a season for shoving a teenager during a colts match.

The West’s digital sports editor Chris Robinson was recognised for his work behind the scenes on thewest.com.au and PerthNow with the Best Off-air Performer gong.

Photographer Jackson Flindell’s shot of Swan Districts forward Tom Edwards flying for a hanger during a match against Peel Thunder was judged the Best Photograph of the season.

Daniels won Best Columnist for his must-read weekly takes in each Saturday’s edition of The West, as well as Best TV Feature for his moving obituary of WA footy legend John Todd and Best TV Breaking News for his report uncovering the details of North Melbourne’s details to play matches in Perth and Bunbury.