Gold rush: Record-breaking strikers collect Jets' major awards

Now, Stamatelopoulos has added the prestigious Craig Johnston Medal and Nigel Boogaard Medal to go with the Golden Boot.

And coach Rob Stanton put the player of the year awards down to hard work.

Stamatelopoulos and Philippines international Sarina Bolden were the big winners at the Jets' awards night at Modus Merewether on Tuesday.

Clayton Taylor capped a standout rookie season by picking up the Rising Star award as young player of the year.

Bolden took out the women's treble of the Cheryl Salisbury Medal, Members Player of the Year and Golden Boot. Emma Dundas was the Rising Star.

Goalkeeper Ryan Scott was awarded the men's Members' Player of the Year.

In an incredible rags to riches story, Stamatelopoulos has made the leap from unheralded front man to goal machine.

The South Australian, whose wife Soffey is pregnant with their first child, has a season to run on his contract and has attracted interest from three English Championship clubs and two in Italy.

Any sale would net the Jets a six-figure transfer fee.

With the Jets understood to be in the final stages of a takeover, those discussion are likely to be in the hands of the incoming owners.

Stanton has a contingency plan if Stamatelopoulos departs.

For now, he remains central to the coach's plans.

The 25-year-old returned to the Jets this season after two years in the wilderness in Greece.

Stamatelopoulos' first four seasons in the A-League at Adelaide (2), Western United and Newcastle yielded seven goals.

It took just eight rounds this season to reach that tally.

Stamtelopoulos opened his account with a late equaliser against Perth in the opening round and kept banging goals away.

"A lot of people wrote him off as a footballer," said Stanton, who recruited the striker. "He has changed that through hard work and a mentality that he wanted to get better every day.

"He has put in the hard work on and off the pitch and the rewards have been there. He set good standards for other players in the team and showed great leadership qualities for a young player.

"The players around him have done a good job to feed him with assists. But you still have to take those chances when they come.

"He does more than that. That is one thing that separates him from others. He will defend our front zone on corners and get first contact. That is a big thing to do. He has done a terrific job."

Taylor joined the Jets from Sydney FC, where he played youth league.

He made his debut in round one and finished with seven goals and three assists.

Recently turned 20, Taylor signed a contract extension mid-season.

"I knew Clayton from Sydney and thought he was one of the best to come out of the academy," said Stanton, who spent eight years at the Sky Blues before joining the Jets this season. "He just needed to develop at the A-League level and get consistent exposure. I knew his best actions were better than most. He just had to learn to do it consistently."

Bolden joined the Jets in round seven and finished with 14 goals and nine assists in 19 appearances.

Dundas, 16, made her debut in round one and the industrious midfielder featured in 21 games, scoring one goal.

The Emerging Jets winners were Xavier Bertoncello and Claire Adams.

The Jets men are coming of another roller coaster season in which they finished 10th.

The women overcame the departure mid-season of coach Gary van Egmond and went on to make the finals for the first time in five years.

They beat Western United in the first round before going down to Melbourne City in the semi-finals.

"We had the youngest team in the A-League men," said Jets boss Shane Mattiske. "We had a new coach and big focus on development. Rob came in late and had minimal opportunity to bring any players in. To his credit, he has done really well.

"We had one of the most difficult starts to the season of any team. We were away for four of the first five rounds due to McDonald Jones Stadium being unavailable. There were also a spate of injuries to key players. Despite that we competed well.

"The women had challenges as well. Gary left in the middle of the year. At the time we were going OK. Full credit to Ryan Campbell, who took the reins, we had a better half of the year than the first half."

The Jets men have 10 players contracted for next season. The Newcastle Herald understands that offers have been tabled to Kosta Grozos, Cal Timmins and Lachie Bayliss.

Bolden has another year to run on her deal and Dundas has signed an extension.

"The big focus now is to lock in the players who have not been locked in," Mattiske said.