Kemeny and Freeman scoop top prizes at Saints’ Season Awards Dinner

Josh Kemeny and Tommy Freeman were the big winners at the Northampton Saints’ 2024/25 Season Awards Dinner as they claimed the Club’s most prestigious prizes – while Henry Pollock took home a hat-trick of awards on Tuesday evening.

Kemeny, in his first season at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, scooped both the Carlsberg Players’ Player of the Season and the Elite Safety, Training & Rescue Coaches’ Player of the Season.

The 26-year-old flanker arrived from Australia last summer and has hit the ground running, featuring in 19 games so far scoring five tries.

Kemeny has had big boots to fill following the departures of Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam last summer, but has become a mainstay in Phil Dowson’s squad, mixing eye-catching tryscoring moments, athletic lineout steals and huge physical contributions on both sides of the ball.

“To be recognised by your peers is pretty special,” said Kemeny. ”From day one getting here, I have been made to feel welcome and a part of the group, so to be recognised by them in this way is something I am very grateful for.

“Season one has exceeded my hopes and expectations, there’s definitely been points of disappointment and inconsistency, but, the experiences here at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, and some success in the Investec Champions Cup so far, has been fantastic.

The 2024/25 Season Awards Dinner – presented by GRS and hosted by Martin Bayfield – saw Saints roll out the red carpet for 700 people to attend a black-tie dinner at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

Freeman’s haul of 16 tries so far this term is his most prolific of six at Saints, and features two hat-tricks against Clermont Auvergne and Leinster, and that try-scoring prowess saw him scoop the cinch Supporters’ Player of the Season.

The winger/centre, who was recently selected for the British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia, was nominated for the Guinness Six Nations player of the tournament after scoring in every round of the 2025 Championship. That purple patch has snowballed into his club form, with Freeman’s try-scoring streak stretching to ten consecutive matches for club and country – with him crossing the line 15 times during that prolific period.

Freeman, who is three appearances away from his 100th at Saints, earned the accolade four years after he picked up the Young Player of the Season for the 2021/22 campaign and the Breakthrough award in 2020/21.

“It’s obviously quite a prestigious award, to get the fans’ backing means a lot to me. Coming through the ranks, picking up awards along the way is really special. It’s not the main focus of course, but to get something at these awards nights is always special.”

Another player selected for the Lions, Henry Pollock, picked up a trio of honours on the evening. Having only made one substitute appearance in the Gallagher Premiership heading into the 2024/25, the 20-year-old flanker earned the Michael Jones Jeweller Breakthrough Player of the Season award this term for his all-action displays.

Pollock has bagged ten tries in 20 games, including his first league try in Round 13 which saw him chip ahead against Sale Sharks before regathering to finish, which saw him win the WAIB Try of the Season prize. 

Eight tries in the Investec Champions Cup, alongside a number of other impactful moments, saw Pollock nominated for the tournament’s Player of the Season, and he also made his senior international debut for England as replacement against Wales – an occasion he marked with two tries in the Guinness Six Nations encounter at the Principality Stadium.

So, it came as little surprise that he completed a hat-trick on the night by scooping the GRAF UK Young Player of the Season award.

“I am very honoured to win these awards,” said Pollock. “There has been some amazing players in the past who have won these awards and players who have had amazing careers, so I am very grateful and I am just excited for what’s to come. 

“It has been mad, it has been a whirlwind. Coming into the season with one Premiership appearance, coming out of it as a British and Irish Lion and a European finalist and maybe even win it is mad. I am loving the ride, I am loving it all. I love my teammates, we’ve had some ups and downs as a team, but we have bounced back really well and we just want to bring that momentum into the final.”

Reflecting on his Try of the Season, he added: “We got the ball in the backfield and I remember just telling Rammy to give it to me early, I saw a gap in the defensive line and went for it. I was lucky enough to get through a hole, I saw Gus Warr and thought I could get it over him and I was very fortunate with the bounce and it all came together quite nicely.”

A season of so many memorable moments, especially in the Investec Champions Cup, made it hard to select the BC Workspace Moment of the Season, but it was decided that the monumental semi-final victory over Leinster in Dublin was the winner, with captain that day Fraser Dingwall accepting the award on behalf of the team.

Northampton Saints 2024/25 Season Award winners

Supporters’ Player of the Season: Tommy Freeman (presented by cinch)
Players’ Player of the Season: Josh Kemeny (presented by Carlsberg)
Breakthrough Player of the Season: Henry Pollock (presented by Michael Jones Jeweller)
Young Player of the Season: Henry Pollock (presented by GRAF UK)
Try of the Season: Henry Pollock vs Sale Sharks, Gallagher Premiership R13 (presented by WAIB)
Moment of the Season: Victory in Leinster, Investec Champions Cup semi-finals (presented by BC Workspace)
Coaches’ Player of the Season: Josh Kemeny (presented by Elite Safety, Training & Rescue)