Canberra United and Matildas striker Ashleigh Sykes has been named W-League's top player in an awards ceremony on Tuesday night.
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The in-form striker claimed the Julie Dolan Medal at the gala Dolan Warren Awards in Sydney on Tuesday night.
Sykes, who is currently playing in Japan, said via video she was humbled to accept the award and thanked her teammates, friends and family for their support.
"I feel really privileged considering the quality of the players in the league this year," she said.
"The girls are fantastic, you always make me look good on the weekend."
Her win comes a year after she claimed the league's Goal of the Year and just months after she swept through the Canberra United awards to claim three of the club's four top honours.
Sykes was named Player of the Year, Players' Player and Supporters Player of the Year at the Canberra United awards in February.
Social media was awash with congratulations for the 24-year-old.
Sykes played a key role in Canberra finishing second on the W-League ladder behind premiers and champions Melbourne City last season.
She also fought for full-time pay during the Matildas wage dispute with Football Federation Australia, revealing in September she hadn't had an income since the World Cup, which finished in July.
Sykes ruled herself out of the Matildas fold earlier this year, taking up a contract to play in Japan instead. She said then that she hadn't determined whether she would return to the W-League next season.
"I'm just playing it by ear and take myself whereever my heart desires at the moment," she said. "If that journey takes me to Europe or anywhere else in the world or back to the W-League, so be it."
Sykes later answered an SOS from the Matildas after Larissa Crummer - named Young Footballer of the Year and Golden Boot at the Dolan Warren Awards - was injured ahead of their Olympic qualifying campaign in Japan.
This is the first year Julie Dolan's name has been added to the awards, which recognise the sport's best male and female players.
Dolan represented Australian in 18 international matches captained the Australian women's side during her 10-year career.
The Julie Dolan Medal has been awarded to W-League's top players since 1988, making it even older than the Johnny Warren Medal from which the gala awards night originally took its name.
Perth Glory star Diego Castro took out the Johnny Warren Medal, the top gong for the men's league.
Sykes' Matildas teammates Lisa De Vanna and Clare Polkinghorne accepted the award on Sykes behalf.
W-LEAGUE AWARDS
Julie Dolan Medal (Player of the Year): Ashleigh Sykes (Canberra United)
Young Footballer of the Year: Larissa Crummer (Melbourne City)
Players' Player of the Year: Kim Little (Melbourne City)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Kaitlyn Savage (Adelaide United)
Goal of the Year: Vanessa Di Bernardo (Perth Glory, round 5)
Coach of the Year: Craig Deans (Newcastle Jets)
Golden Boot Award: Larissa Crummer (Melbourne City)
Referee of the Year: Kate Jacewicz
A-LEAGUE AWARDS
Johnny Warren Medal (Player of the Year): Diego Castro (Perth Glory)
Young Footballer of the Year: Jamie Maclaren (Brisbane Roar)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Thomas Sorensen (Melbourne City)
Golden Boot Award: Bruno Fornaroli (Melbourne City, 23 goals) Goal of the Year: Roy O'Donovan (Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide, round 25)
Coach of the Year: Guillermo Amor (Adelaide United)
Referee of the Year: Jarred Gillett
