Above: Matthew Brumby announced as the winner of the 2021/2022 Sir Roden Cutler Award along with the other deserving finalists.

The Club closed nominations for the next Sir Roden Cutler Award almost 12 months ago, but international sporting events such as Paralympics and Invictus have kept delivering us potential candidates. The result of this process was that the Committee identified FIVE highly qualified candidates, who all deserve to be recognised for their various contributions to their sport, and who inspire thousands of others to surmount challenges and give life a go! Each finalist will received a Sir Roden Cutler Award Finalist Medal, as well as a $5,000 grant for sporting and recreational facilities for the sports charity of their choosing.​

Matthew Brumby (Winner)

Born in Devonport Tasmania and grew up in Ulverstone. He joined the Royal Australian Navy at the age of 16yrs and served at HMAS Albatross, HMAS Newcastle, and HMAS Brisbane.

Wanting to advance his career, he attempted the Navy Clearance Diver course. Unfortunately, during the selection course, he sustained an injury to his back and collapsed on the beach. Two days later whilst dropping his motorbike off to a friend he passed out, awoke in hospital and advised that a Syrinx had formed inside his spinal cord.  He also suffered a couple of fractured ribs, four breaks in his cheek bone, and was paralysed from T6 vertebrae down. Matty was 22 years old at the time.

After being discharged from the Navy, Matty moved to Melbourne and found Paratriathlon. It rapidly became his goal to compete at the highest level and represent his country. He narrowly missed out on selection for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He switched focus to long course triathlon, doing his first half Ironman 70.3 in Luxembourg, 2016 finishing 3rd.

This qualified him for the 2016, 70.3 World championships later that year where he went on to win the HC (Handcycle) category and his First World Title. 

In 2018 he applied for the Invictus Games and was selected as a Co-Captain of the Australian Team. There he achieved no less than 5 Gold medals in wheelchair track events and wheelchair rugby.

With this momentum, he set out to compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, USA. He went on to complete a time of 11hrs 54minutes and finished in 1st place.

2020 was spent continuing to train to defend his World Title in Kona, however as we all know Covid 19 prevented the event proceeding. Matty used his experience to mentor other adaptive and para-athletes for Triathlon, wheelchair sports, sports leadership and supporting the defence adaptive sports program members based in South Australia as part of the Invictus program collaboration with UniSA. Matthew has been nominated by Peter and Invictus Australia.

 

Amanda Reid OAM (Finalist)

Originally from Blaxland NSW, Amanda is a 25 year-old Australian Paralympic swimmer and cyclist.  As a 15 year-old, she represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming, competing in the S14 100m breaststroke event.  After 2012, she transferred to cycling.  At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the Womens’ 500m Time Trial C1-3 and at the 2020 Tokyo Paras a gold medal in same event in world record time.

Amanda was born with spastic quadriplegia and an intellectual disability; she has heritage from the Wemba-Wemba and Guringai people.

Amanda has also competed in UCI Para-cycling World Championships in Los Angeles 2017, Rio De Janeiro 2018, Apeldoorn Belgium 2019 and Milton Ontario 2020, winning multiple medals along the way and setting a world record in the Women’s 500m Time Trial C2.

It will not come as a surprise to all here that Amanda has won a number of awards off the track, such as the 2017 NAIDOC Sports Person of the Year and Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Earlier this year, she earned the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport. Amanda has been nominated by Paralympics Australia.

 

Paige Greco OAM (Finalist)

Paige is a 25 year-old Paralympic cyclist who won gold at the 2019 World track Championships in C1-3 women’s pursuit, after she had switched from Para-athletics.  She broke the world record setting a new time in the 3000m individual pursuit at the Tokyo Paras in 2020.

Paige has cerebral palsy which mainly affects the right side of her body.  She has completed an Exercise Science Degree at University of South Australia.

Also at Tokyo, Paige won bronze medals in Road Time Trial C1-3 and Road Race C1-3.  In the former event, she raced in challenging conditions at the rain-soaked Fuji Speedway to finish 3^rd.  In the road race, her result was determined in a very tight ‘bunch sprint’.

At the World Championships in Milton Ontario again in that year of 2020, Paige won gold in the Individual Pursuit D1-3.

Earlier this year, she earned the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport.  She is indeed an inspiration to other aspiring athletes.  Other awards include Cycling Australia’s Para Female Track Cyclist in 2019, and last year South Australia Sports Institute’s Para Athlete of the Year. Paige has been nominated by Paralympics Australia.

 

James Hunter (Finalist)

For the past eight years James has been a passionate advocate for, and active member of, the Making Waves Foundation (MWF), formerly known as Sailors with Disabilities (SWD).

James was born with a degenerative eye disorder that has meant a life balancing, learning, adapting and recalibrating to take account of his ever-deteriorating eyesight.  Unfortunately, in 2015 his sighted life came to an end and his non-sighted one commenced amongst a fanfare of personal grief, loss and uncertainty.  This point in James’ life marked the beginning of his volunteering career very much driven through and for the Making Waves Foundation.

James addressed this change through a wholehearted dive into the Making Waves programs. This included:

• As a crew member in the Winds of Joy (WOJ) program, the core MWF program for children with disabilities
• As a crew member in the Northern campaign, which takes the WOJ program to 5 ports on the East Coast as far as Mackay in Queensland.
• As a crew member and leader of the Winds of Change program, an 8-week program for disadvantaged or disengaged youth, including helping to develop objectives, metrics and guidelines. 
• As a member of the racing crew, developing his skills from casual racing through to serious competitive racing.  Including TP52 National Championships; inshore Twilight and Winter Racing Series; a variety of offshore blue water and SOP’s; and a Sydney to Southport race.

In 2021, James was awarded the NSW Volunteer of the Year Team Award. James has been nominated by Making Waves Foundation.

 

Joel Vanderzwan (Finalist)

Joel has been an outstanding contributor to the sports, veterans and disability communities of Australia.

His attitude is what sets him apart; always positive and engaging and always doing what he can to support others.

Originally from Illawarra in NSW, Joel joined the Royal Australian Navy when he was 17 years old and acknowledges that it was a steep learning curve. An Able Seaman Marine Technician, Joel spent a lot of time off Darwin on border patrol and a highlight of his service was his work on the HMAS Kanimbla in 2010 as part of Exercise RIMPAC off Hawaii.

Joel was medically discharged from the Navy at the end of 2012 after a serious motorcycle accident resulted in T6 complete paraplegia.  He spent 11 months in rehabilitation.  Down but, by no means out, Joel used his competitive spirit to gain life skills while going through rehab.

Joel will be competing in archery, wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing and wheelchair rugby at the Invictus Games when the rescheduled event is held in 2022.

Joel enjoys each of the sports that he’ll be competing in for different reasons. On hearing the news that the Games had been postponed, Joel was disappointed but not surprised. “The Invictus Games for me is about much more than just sport; it’s a celebration of our journeys,” says Joel. “Although this is an unplanned change, it further demonstrates our ability to overcome, adapt and perform. As a team, we’ll do just that and use this extra time to build on our skills.” In addition, Joel trains every Tuesday night with the NSW Gladiators wheelchair rugby team. “They’re a great group of athletes who have welcomed me into their training squad,” says Joel. “We do a range of activities during our training seasons, from strength and conditioning to gameplay tactics. It’s great to spend time with such incredible athletes.” When pushed on it, Joel admits that he’

Since that accident, and after nearly 12 months in rehabilitation, Joel has overcome the challenges of being discharged from the Australian Defence Force, finding new employment in the civilian world and finding a pathway in sport where he can excel. All significant accomplishments in themselves, and truly inspiring in combination. Joel has been nominated by Veteran Sport Australia.

About the Sir Roden Cutler Award

Sir Roden Cutler was our first patron and a great supporter of the PCA. In 1999, the PCA launched the inaugural Sir Roden Cutler (SRC) Award in recognition of his efforts in improving the lot of people with disabilities. The SRC Award program is aimed at acknowledging, highlighting and rewarding disabled individuals who have excelled in their chosen field of sport or endeavour.

Successful recipients, all with either physical and/or intellectual disabilities, will have demonstrated outstanding achievements in either sporting or recreational fields that serve as inspiration to other people with disabilities. Their achievements will have been recognised by their peers and may include awards, prizes, media profiles or other forms of accolades. These amazing people will also have an impressive history of being active in the disability space helping and mentoring others to deal with their disability.

There are three awards within the program. Final recipients will be offered funds to be directed to disability charities of their choice

To nominate a worthy candidate please email: charitycommittee@primaryclub.com 

 Alumni