Watch highlights from Tom Schneider's season in the player above.

HAWTHORN youngster Tom Schneider has taken out the 2012 Col Austen Trophy awarded to Box Hill’s best and fairest player.

Rewarded for an impressive season, the hard working midfielder finished in first place ahead of defender Thomas Murphy.

Schneider enjoyed a breakout season in the VFL with Box Hill, becoming one of the competition’s most prolific midfielders.

The 20-year old joins an impressive list of players to win the Col Austen Trophy in recent seasons.

AFL listed players Sam Gibson, Ed Curnow and Sam Iles have all received the award over the past three seasons.

Selected by Hawthorn in the 2011 Rookie Draft, Schneider was recruited from Oakleigh Chargers and has spent the past two seasons at the Ricoh Centre on Hawthorn’s rookie list.

After playing 14 games in 2011 for Box Hill, Schneider returned in 2012 to appear in all 20 matches for the VFL Hawks including their two finals.

The in and under midfielder averaged 25 possessions a game across the season and was named in Damian Carroll’s best on nine separate occasions.

Combining with Box Hill’s Luke Andrews, Schneider led the Hawks midfield with great determination throughout the season, bringing a newfound consistency to his game.   

Schneider capped off a brilliant season with two strong performances in Box Hill’s finals, an Elimination Final win against Sandringham before a Semi-Final defeat to eventual Premiers Geelong.

Runner up Murphy featured in 15 matches for Box Hill throughout the season and was a mainstay in defence before breaking his way into the Hawthorn side to play two finals.
 
There were many other Hawthorn listed players who collected awards on the evening. Young defender Jordan Kelly was named as Box Hill’s Best First Year Player whilst tough rebounding backman Taylor Duryea collected Box Hill’s Player of the Finals award.