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Forward Of The Year: Wian Conradie, New England Free Jacks

Written by Joe Harvey

Conradie was been named the competition’s Forward of the Year.

The Namibian was a significant influence as his team lifted the MLR Shield for the first time in his third season in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Like in his two campaigns prior, Conradie provided the Free Jacks with a perfect blend of pace and power in Scott Mathie’s forward pack.

Just as capable of running through a defender as he would be using footwork to get out of trouble, this recognition comes as welcome news.

Photo by Lisa Li

“I know going into the season I set our certain goals, especially this year with the World Cup,” Conradie said.

“It is important to me to ensure that I am getting good performances, not just in one or two games, but throughout the whole season.

“I trained really hard last year coming in off the back of the November Tests, leading into this season, I was really looking forward to starting with the Free Jacks again and having a really good season. 

“I am absolutely stoked. It is definitely a reward that I take close to my heart. It’s pretty awesome to know I got that award.”

Pooled with host nation France, as well as three-time champions New Zealand, along with Italy and Uruguay, it is safe to say that Conradie was in frightening form.

Photo by Davey Wilson

This showed at the Championship Final. Conradie glided past San Diego Legion defenders to keep his team on the front foot.

It was very much the fairytale ending to a mesmeric season in Free Jacks colors, as the side built on a 2022 season in which the New York Ironworkers cruelly ended in the Eastern Conference Final.

Having retaken to the field this year with a renewed focus and intensity, there was little standing in the way of New England as they took the competition by storm.

Across their 16 regular season games, the side saw defeat just twice. 

Despite losses to San Diego and the Utah Warriors, New England would bare their teeth with a record victory over the Toronto Arrows in mid-April, the team’s title credentials growing all the while.

A whirlwind from start to finish, Conradie says he is still processing everything that has happened in recent months.

Photo by Brendan Buckley 

“It is still sinking in,” Conradie said. “If I am reflecting on it, starting in the preseason in January, we had a couple of long days, big sessions, and building week in, week out.

“We lost a couple of games, but it just guided us throughout the season and in terms of where we still needed to work on game, and what we needed to rectify.

“We luckily were able to do that, grow as individuals and as a team. I know there has been a lot of work going into our team culture and the environment that we are in. At the end of the day, it made it easier.

“We worked hard for one another, and it just paid off in the end. Going into the final weekend, we didn’t change much in terms of what we were doing. It was more fixing those mistakes and little details.

“We sort of just carried our momentum from one game to another and not underestimating our opponents and every team we have played, taking it as it is. It has been a great season.”