The best players in the open division in 2024!
December 12, 2024 by Sean Colfer in Awards
This European season was the first with a new structure and had WUC on the other side of the world dropped into the middle of the calendar. That meant some of the timings were a bit strange, and EUCF was just after many of the best players on the continent returned from Down Under. However, the season itself was extremely exciting and saw the continued rise of young stars in every division. Who were the top performers? Here are your winners in the 2024 European Player of the Year awards.
Player of the Year
Daan De Marrée (Mooncatchers)
Another stellar year for De Marrée led this time to a maiden EUCF title with Mooncatchers. The Belgians had won everything but the big club title and this year blew past the competition, a 15-11 win over XVI in Friday’s terrible weather the closest game in a dominant run. De Marrée has previously been a defensive pillar that crossed to the O line when needed. This season he made his impact on offense and didn’t need to cross over quite as much as he has in the past, but he was still the best player on the continent despite the slightly different role. His demeanour and attitude encapsulates what has made Mooncatchers the continent’s best team, and he’s one of the key emotional leaders of a gifted Belgian generation. He becomes the first POTY to repeat in the open division, and is thoroughly deserving in setting that bit of history. Who’d bet against him being back here again?
Runner-Up
Connor McHale (Clapham)
Coming out just ahead of teammate Conrad Wilson, McHale was again vital to Clapham throughout the season. His impact was encapsulated by the performance at Elite Invite, where he was the leader on a relatively inexperienced and short-handed Clapham team. He was one of the key driving forces with the disc in hand and was also the first player to cross over to play defense when the team needed a shot in the arm. His game continues to evolve as he takes on more offensive and leadership responsibilities as one of the central players for a team that continues to set the standard for extended dominance in Europe.
Offensive Player of the Year
Arvīds Kārkliņš (Mooncatchers)
Kārkliņš is perhaps the most talented player in Europe. He is tall, fast and can throw basically whatever he likes. After being a crucial part of the Moon D line for the last couple of years, like De Marrée he made a bigger impact on the O line this year. His downfield prowess was a cheat code for a group that very rarely got bogged down in the handler space. When teams were able to take away the resets by dedicating every defensive resource to it, Kārkliņš going deep was a splendid option every single time. He may not have led the team in stats or touches, but his gravity affected the defense enormously every time he was on the field and opened up loads of space for his extremely talented teammates to work with. Every time he did touch it, he showed he belongs right in that extremely talented bracket along with them.
Runner-Up
Arthur Vande Weghe (Gentle)
Vande Weghe has been a consistently excellent offensive player for Gentle and Belgium for several years now, but this season he made something of a leap. Nothing demonstrated that better than his performance at Elite Invite earlier in the year. It was a good job the tournament was held in Belgium because his hand was so hot they’d have needed to hose him down before he could fly anywhere. He picked up seven stats in a quarters upset over La Fotta and 10 in a tight finals battle with countrymen Moon, and led the whole division overall. An excellent year for an oft-underrated player1.
Defensive Player of the Year
Simon Ruelle (Tchac)
The Frenchmen were surprise semi-finalists at EUCF, but there is a young generation of players coming out of France that everyone around the world should be paying very close attention to. One of the main characters in that generation is Ruelle, whose defense is stifling thanks to his size and speed combination. However, perhaps his best ability is that he is able to conjure a block out of a seemingly impossible situation2. He is also excellent once his team has the disc and gives the top cutter on the opposition O line no time at all to rest. Ruelle is one to watch for when the World Games rosters are coming out as he keeps growing into someone that coaches plan around.
Runner-Up
Tom Blasman (Mooncatchers)
Up until this year, Blasman was seen as an offensive centrepiece. Last season he was the key handler for Grut as they reached the mixed final, and for the Netherlands open at EUC. This season he moved to Moon and the fit seemed a little off with the O line early on. The more permanent introduction of Paul Arters meant that someone would have to move, and that someone was Blasman. His response was to step up and become one of the strongest handler marks in Europe and someone that could run a D line offense as well as anyone. It also eased the need for some of the key handlers to move over from the O line, and added another elite puller. The move turned out to be a masterstroke from coach Pierre-Alain De Laminne de Bex, but it only looks so good because of the effort and excellence that Blasman consistently brought to the table. In a good year for defensive candidates3, he’s an excellent runner up.
Breakout Player of the Year
Léo Stanguennec (Tchac)
There were several excellent candidates for this award on the bronze-medal winning Tchac team, with Nemo Courtil particularly close4. Stanguennec already looks like one of the best, most athletic cutters in Europe, though, and his emergence as a player on that level is a significant development for a program that looked to have stalled slightly in recent years. With Elliot Bonnet potentially also coming back from the US next season5, Tchac could make the big three in the European open division more a big four in the years to come.
Runner-Up
Kody Elliot-Edwards (Chevron)
Chevron have a long, proud history of bringing young players into their team and giving them prominent roles. Elliot-Edwards was on the GB U24 open team last year and has played at EUCF with Smash’D before. His move to Chevron was a step up in quality and he responded by being the top scorer for the team all season. At EUCF he was behind only De Marrée for goals, showing his long speed and ability to high-point the disc as well as an innate ability to find space in the endzone.
Shout outs here to the Mooncatcher Bens – Jonkers and Oort – who were both great for the champs too. ↩
They do say a picture says a thousand words, so just look at that photo! ↩
Tal Osri, Matthieu Muller, Victor Ouchinsky, Toms Ābeltiņš, Felix Martin, Enzo Forget and Lander Decraene all had good years too. ↩
Shout outs to Jelte Derks, Fernando Vozzi, Giovanni Saracco and Pieterjan Deforce. ↩
Not to mention some excellent young players from the France U20 team, including one Enzo Stanguennec. ↩
