The nominees for the Austraffic PFA Player of the Month award for December have been revealed, with a total of 12 players across the A-League Men and A-League Women competitions up for the second peer-voted award of the season.

The 12 players were selected by a panel of former players and experts, who nominated the individuals based off their performances during December.

Six players have been nominated across the two competitions for the final Player of the Month award of 2024, and must be PFA members to be eligible for the award.

PFA Members will receive a link from the PFA to vote on the nominees this week. Take a look at the nominees, below!

A-League Men

Angus Thurgate (Western United)

Thurgate’s purple patch has been key to Western United’s December resurgence. The midfielder’s hard-working traits, coupled with his tidiness in possession in the engine room has helped a youthful Western side to a three-game winning streak and into the top six at the end of the calendar year. This included starring roles in their 4-0 win over league leaders Auckland FC and dramatic 4-3 victory over Sydney FC. The 24-year-old’s performances have earned enormous praise, with coach John Aloisi hailing him as their “best player” so far this season.

Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix)

There’s been no slowing down for Barbarouses this season with an amazing start to the campaign. The 34-year-old attacker has been on a tear for the Wellington Phoenix, scoring six goals already this season – including three in December – to go top of the A-League Men Golden Boot charts. He ended the year in style, scoring a beautiful long-range goal against the Newcastle Jets from inside the centre-circle to bring up his 99th career A-League Men goal.

Dylan Scicluna (Western Sydney Wanderers)

Scicluna has been key to Western Sydney Wanderers’ impressive December. The midfielder became a fixture in the Wanderers midfield throughout the opening rounds of the season, and continued his impressive body of work in December, scoring his first goal for the club in their resounding 4-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix before adding an assist against Adelaide United the following week. Unfortunately, Scicluna’s season came to an end after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the clash with the Reds.

Archie Goodwin (Adelaide United)

Goodwin has flourished since making the move to Adelaide in the off-season, building on the enormous potential he showed in the first few seasons of his young career at Newcastle Jets. The striker has solidified himself as in the Adelaide United starting XI and gone on to score four goals in his last three matches in December, including a brace against Sydney FC, to take his tally to five for the season.

Brandon Borrello (Western Sydney Wanderers)

Another player key to the Western Sydney Wanderers turn of form in December was Borrello, who put in a number of enormous shifts to help his side to three straight games without a loss. The Socceroos attacker scored three goals in the final month of 2024, including a brace against Brisbane Roar, to go with a pair of assists in their resounding win over Wellington Phoenix. He ended the year with a sensational performance over his hometown side Adelaide United, scoring the equaliser in the come-from-behind 3-2 victory at Coopers Stadium.

Matthew Sutton (Western United)

Sutton’s rise to prominence has been one of the great stories of the A-League Men season so far. The 24-year-old goalkeeper has spent most of his career as a backup goalkeeper at the likes of Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, before finally getting his first elongated chance between the sticks towards the end of last season with Western. Sutton has gone on to establish himself as the No.1 choice this campaign off the back of a number of brilliant performances, especially in December, where he helped his side secure important wins over Sydney FC, Auckland FC and Brisbane Roar – keeping clean sheets against the latter two. According to FotMob, Sutton sits first in saves per 90 in the A-League Men with 3.9 per game and sits second in the league for goals prevented (1.4), and third in save percentage (76.5%).

A-League Women

Laini Freier (Brisbane Roar)

Freier hadn’t played a professional game a month ago, but by the end of 2024, the Brisbane Roar winger had stamped herself into A-League Women’s history. Freier had an incredible December, making her debut for Brisbane as a substitute against Wellington on December 8, before making her first start a fortnight later on the road to Newcastle – where she scored a hat-trick and tallied an assist. If that wasn’t enough, eight days later, Freier scored yet another hat-trick against Western United and helped herself to another assist for sister, Sharn. Her back-to-back hat-tricks made her the first player in competition history to achieve such a feat. What an impact.

Kahli Johnson (Western United)

In what has been a month of ups and downs for Western United, Johnson has been the one constant for Kat Smith’s side. Either side of heavy defeats to Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar, Western recorded victories against reigning champions Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners, where Johnson scored three goals between the two matches. The young attacker has shown signs of growth in each season since arriving at the club, but her start to this campaign has been particularly impressive, with five goal contributions to her name already and looks poised to go to another level.

Momo Hayashi (Brisbane Roar)

Hayashi has been a revelation for Brisbane Roar in the middle of the park this season, creating an amazing combination with the likes of Tameka Yallop and Alicia Woods. The Japanese midfielder has already scored four goals and tallyed two assists this season, with three of those contributions coming in December. Hayashi’s incredible free-kick against Western United was the pick of the bunch from her already extensive highlight reel.

Sharn Freier (Brisbane Roar)

Brisbane Roar have been this season’s box office team in the A-League Women, and a lot of that has to do with the form of Freier. The Matildas winger has been superb this month since returning from international duty, backing up a brilliant window with Australia with a string of impressive games for Alex Smith’s side. Freier bagged a brace and an assist in Brisbane’s 8-2 victory against Western United – alongside her sister, Laini, who scored a hat-trick – and added two assists a week earlier in their 6-1 win over Newcastle Jets.

Laura Hughes (Melbourne City)

It’s been some month for Hughes. Fresh off making her Matildas debut against Chinese Taipei in early December, Hughes returned to league leaders Melbourne City and has made an enormous impact, scoring against her former side Canberra United and then, the match-winner over Wellington Phoenix a fortnight later. Not only has Hughes hit the scoresheet, but she’s controlled things brilliantly in the City engine-room, forging a brilliant trident with the likes of fellow Matilda Leah Davidson and Leticia McKenna.

Fiona Worts (Adelaide United)

Worts has returned to Adelaide with a vengeance this season. After a brief stint at Sydney FC last season, the 2021-22 Julie Dolan Medallist has made a mark back in the City of Churches with six goals to her name already and sits atop the A-League Women Golden Boot chart alongside Melbourne Victory’s Emily Gielnik and Brisbane’s Laini Freier. Worts added two goals to her name this month, with a brace against Newcastle Jets and was a key figure in their victory over Western Sydney Wanderers, which secured the Reds’ place inside the top six at the new year. The English striker also currently leads the league in Non-Penalty xG with 5.6, according to FotMob, showcasing just how dangerous she is around goals in open play.

2024-25 POTM winners

A-League Men
October/November: Nicolas Milanovic (WSW)

A-League Women
November: Isabel Gomez (CCM)