Filipo Daugunu and Eva Karpani tonight won the two most prized individual honours at the Queensland Reds Awards.
Wallabies winger Daugunu was named the Pilecki Medal winner as the Queensland Reds’ best during Super Rugby Pacific.
Wallaroos prop Eva Karpani was named the Shannon Parry Medal winner as the dominant figure for the Reds in the Super Rugby Women’s season.
Both medals are awarded on the 3-2-1 votes of the 23 players involved in each game. It is the ultimate gong for excellence from your peers.
Daugunu tallied 236 votes and was loudly applauded when the votes were unveiled at a gala function for more than 250 at The Tivoli in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
Daugunu topped two-time Pilecki Medal-winner Harry Wilson (185) and 2024 Medal-winner Fraser McReight (159). Co-captain Tate McDermott (149) finished fourth and was named the Member-voted Player of the Year.
"I'm really surprised. To win this medal is very special and I thank my wife, the baby we are having in the next week and my teammates," Daugunu said.
"Everyone in the Reds team achieved this. I left to play in Melbourne but Queensland has always been home for me as the place where I started playing professional rugby.
"There's more to come from this club and players like (Rookie of the Year) Dre Pakeho. He's one to watch."
Even missing three games, Daugunu was never headed after jumping to a commanding lead with big vote tallies across the opening three matches.
Not since Digby Ioane in 2009 has a winger won the Pilecki Medal although the versatile Daugunu did play more time this season at outside centre where Jason Little, Dan Herbert and Samu Kerevi excelled in their Medal years.
Since 1992, the Medal has recognised the late Stan Pilecki, a wonderful figure in rugby for Queensland as the first to play 100 games.
It was a measure of the spread of quality in the ranks in 2025 that 11 different Reds players won Man of the Match mugs in the 15 games.
Daugunu won two at home in front of his loyal fans at Suncorp Stadium. His big opening round performance in the victory over Moana Pasifika jumped him into an early lead which he never surrendered.
Wilson won three consecutive Man of the Match awards before being sidelined with a fractured forearm for five matches. Backrower Joe Brial won two Man of the Match awards against strong Kiwi opponents.
Daugunu scored seven tries, made the most metres of any Reds runner, was the team’s joint leader for ball carries and led for linebreaks (12). As importantly, his mark was made when it counted, most notably with his last-gasp try in Perth to sink the Western Force in Round Three.
Wilson made his mark with top votes against the Crusaders in Christchurch, the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium and the Highlanders in Dunedin where the Reds won for the first time in 12 years.
Young gun Dre Pakeho relished the step up to Super Rugby Pacific for the first time. After not being selected for the opening game of 2025, he tallied points in nine games.
He was a worthy winner of Rookie of the Year.
The Shannon Parry Medal is building fresh history. It is just the third year in which it has been presented after being named in honour of the former Reds and Wallaroos captain Shannon Parry, the inaugural winner in 2023.
Super Rugby Women’s is a sprint of six games. Karpani (102 votes) was a standout who got better as the season progressed.
She scored a hat-trick of tries against the Western Force for a surge of points. Her two-try showing in the impressive 54-40 semi-final victory over the Fijian Drua at Ballymore Stadium was the other big vote winner that pushed her ahead of teenage centre Shalom Sauaso for the first time.
The impressive Sauaso (90) finished second while 2024 Medal-winner Carola Kreis (73) was third.
"I'm really proud of myself for the move I made to Queensland for this year because getting out of my comfort zone was something I needed to do," Karpani said.
"It's been a rollercoaster at times but my new rugby family at the Reds has been super supportive and I wouldn't be holding this medal without them."
Centre Faythe Manera was named Rookie of the Year while the Member-voted Player of the Year was popular sevens star Charlotte Caslick.
The award for Caslick was a fine reward for her commitment to dive full on into a transition from sevens to the 15-a-side game for this year. It was richly rewarded earlier today with her selection in the Wallaroos squad for the Rugby World Cup in England.
LIST OF AWARDS:
Queensland Reds
Pilecki Medal: Filipo Daugunu
Top 10 voting: Filipo Daugunu (236 votes), Harry Wilson (185), Fraser McReight (159), Tate McDermott (149), Lachie Anderson (143), Tom Lynagh (135), Joe Brial (135), Dre Pakeho (133), Seru Uru (91), Josh Flook (90)
Attacking Player of the Year Award: Tate McDermott
Defensive Player of the Year Award: Fraser McReight
Rookie of the Year: Dre Pakeho
Spirit of the Reds: Lachie Anderson
Member-voted Player of the Year: Tate McDermott
Buildcorp Academy Player of the Year: Tom Robinson
Queensland Reds Women
Shannon Parry Medal: Eva Karpani
Top Five voting:
Eva Karpani (102 votes), Shalom Sauaso (90), Carola Kreis (73), Lori Cramer (71), Zoe Hanna (56)
Attacking Player of the Year Award: Shalom Sauaso
Defensive Player of the Year Award: Tiarah Minns
Rookie of the Year: Faythe Manera
Spirit of the Reds: Tiarna Molloy
Member-voted Player of the Year: Charlotte Caslick
