THE BIG V Women’s competition has wrapped for season 2022, and there was plenty to like about the way it all panned out.

Wyndham was far and away the best side in the competition, and completed a dominant run with a grand final victory and a truly deserved championship. The champions were the most damaging side all year, and managed to keep evolving their play as the season progressed as opposition sides look to find weaknesses in their game plan.

While there were a number of big contributors in their championship run, perhaps none were more consistent than scoring machine Dyani Ananiev. She was a consistent bucket for Wyndham on a weekly basis, and was the focal point of its offence for much of the year.

For those reasons and her key role in Wyndham’s success, she is Rookie Me Central’s Most Valuable Player for season 2022.

Dyani Ananiev in season 2022 – 19.82 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.41 assists

Ananiev was a flat out machine at scoring the ball for the majority of the year, and when her teammates were struggling to get points on the board, she stood up and registered some crucial buckets time and time again.

Shooting 44.29 percent from the field, Ananiev was reliable for a score more often than any of her teammates. That sort of efficiency is quite rare amongst the top points scorers. In fact, it was only bested by the likes of Amanda Paschal and Louella Tomlinson, both of whom shot marginally better but attempted far less shots.

It was a slow start to Ananiev’s MVP campaign, scoring just four points in 13 minutes to open her season account. Increased minutes saw a boost in production from the sharpshooter, who was regularly registering 15 or more points as the season rolled on.

The more games Ananiev got under her belt, the more efficiently she ended up shooting from the field. With the ability to find space off the dribble both inside and outside the arc, she was quickly proving to be a handful for opposition defenders. It was evident that her Wyndham teammates were looking to find her in catch and shoot situations, but she could also create her own shot.

After a few weeks of getting in foul trouble, Ananiev found a more effective way to defend the opposition, and was back to notching up 30 minutes a game, which saw some stronger production. Round 9 was where she truly elevated herself into the game’s elite, with a 27-point, 11-rebound effort against the Boomers, which proved to be a match-winning performance.

It was in the back half of the season that Ananiev took her game to the next level, proving to be a consistent 20-point scorer with efforts as high as 33 points. In the finals, she received a bit more defensive attention, but was able to fight through to play an important role as a decoy while still chiming in for some timely buckets.

Ananiev also proved to be a handy rebounder, racking up double-doubles on a number of occasions. Her ability to fly in from the side whenever the Wyndham front court was being boxed out. Often, at least half of her rebounds came on the offensive end, and she showed no hesitation to put the ball back up for a put-back.

In Wyndham’s two finals series’ against McKinnon and the Boomers, Ananiev was one of the most damaging players on the offensive end of the court. In the crucial game two against McKinnon in the semi finals, she had a game-high 20 points and single-handedly kept Wyndham’s season alive.

In the grand final series, she formed a serious duo with Paschal as the pair tore apart the Bulleen defence with ease in just two games.

What has separated Ananiev from the rest of the pack has been her consistency, particularly in the back half of the year. In the closing 10 weeks of the season, she set her own standards even higher and was as damaging as they come with ball in hand.