A chronic illness was threatening to sideline the former North Ballarat Rebels' player indefinitely, however with guts and determination Robinson was able to make a full recovery and slowly went about returning to the Ararat seniors via the reserves.

After missing the first six rounds of the year, Robinson made his comeback against Dimboola and played five matches with the Rats' reserves, which was enough to see him claim the team's best and fairest.

Reserves' joint-coach Rod Mills said the midfield's class in the seconds competition was evident from the outset, however it was his ability just to make it back onto the football field which was the real achievement.

"Jake has come back from an injury that none of us really know how hard it was to recover from or the stress it put him in," he said.

"For that boy to turn it around from the way he looked at the start of the year, to come out and firstly just play football was a huge effort.

"Once he gained some confidence and understood that his body could do what it did he showed his natural ability. Jake's hardness at the inside ball is huge, which I think has been developed by the Rebels and natural speed is something that you either have or you don't and he has certainly got that."

Joint-coach Paul Ganley also praised the efforts of Robinson, who went on to have an impact with the Rats' seniors, particularly during their finals' campaign.

"Jake is just a wonderful player, honestly you'd love to have him as a son because he is just such a great bloke," Ganley said.

"We were lucky enough to have him in the reserves for a couple of games, he brought a great attitude and his tough and hard approach every time."

Finishing equal runners-up behind Robinson in the best and fairest was Peter Thompson and Tim Porter on 19 votes apiece.

While it was a lean year for Ararat's reserves, with the team only notching up two wins for the season, Ganley said with a bit more depth added over the summer there is potential for a quick improvement.

"It has been great to coach this bunch of blokes, from the young kids that have come up through the under 17s to the ones that have been around for a few years now," he said.

"We showed in patches during the year what we can do, so I just think it will be onwards and upwards next season."

Reserves best and fairest

Jake Robinson 25; Peter Thompson 19; Tim Porter 19; Will Bell 16; Mitch Gemmola 16; Mick Fratin 15; Sam Shalders 12; Nick Dunford 11; Chris Jerram 11; Corey Bell 10; Jamie Vernon 10; Tom Schwab 9; Dan Vearing 9; Jackson Bohner 8; Jake Strafel 8; Corey Billett 8; Pat Bell 7; Tom Williamson 7; Lucas Cocking 6; Gerard May 6; Troy Jenkins 6; Nick Brain 5; Brayden Ferguson 5; Riley Taylor 5; Peter White 5; Scott Turner 4; Jono Milosevic 4; Luke Robinson 3; Paul Ganley 3; Ryan Bates 2; James Laidlaw 2; Sam Harris 2; Dale Bligh 2; Adam Fleming 2; Riley Day-Plush 1; Taine Pearse 1.