Linda Pearce named Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year at the Quills

CODE Sports writer Linda Pearce has been named the ‘2023 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year’ for her outstanding series on the demise of the Collingwood netball club.

CODE Sports journalist Linda Pearce and 2023 Harry Gordon Sports Journalist of the Year award winner.

CODE Sports writer Linda Pearce has been named the ‘2023 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year’ for her outstanding series on the demise of the Collingwood netball club.

Collingwood announced it would withdraw its Suncorp Super Netball licence a week after Pearce’s series, which chronicled in great detail the issues and internal wrangling within the club.

THE COLLINGWOOD DEMISE: PART I | PART II | PART III

In awarding Pearce the Harry Gordon Sports Journalist of the Year prize, the Melbourne Press Club judges noted:

“Linda’s compelling series on the failure of the Collingwood netball club revealed the dysfunction at the heart of the famous football club’s foray into women’s netball.

“Through a series of interviews with former coaches, players and administrators, Linda’s deep-dive exposed the personalities and issues besetting the club, foreshadowing its ultimate withdrawal from the league.

Linda Pearce’s reporting of the demise of Collingwood’s netball team was rewarded with her being named the Harry Gordon Sports Journalist of the Year. Picture: Getty Images

“She used the digital format to great effect, to engage and build an audience, expertly crafting the long-form stories.

“Her commitment to keeping a watching brief on the troubled leadership and division at Netball Australia also led her to write with clarity and authority about the challenges confronting the organisation after the tumultuous exit of its CEO.”

The 2023 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of The Year Award has been won by Linda Pearce, of CODE Sports, for her series on the demise of the
Collingwood netball club. pic.twitter.com/dKXKXXYyaE

— Melbourne Press Club (@MelbPressClub) March 15, 2024

The Melbourne Press Club also awarded a ‘highly commended’ to Scott Gullan for his groundbreaking coverage of the Peter Bol drugs scandal.

In February, Pearce’s brilliant series on Collingwood’s downfall was ‘highly commended’ by the Australian Sport Commission in the category of ‘best sport coverage by an individual - written’. She was also a finalist for the ‘2021 Harry Gordon Sports Journalist of the Year’ award.

Originally published as Linda Pearce named Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of the Year at the Quills