Cerrone snubbed for KDL medal count

Prior to invitations going out many good judges would have considered Cerrone Lancaster’s best hope of re-claiming the mantle of having the competition’s best player.

Coach Tom Davies, who has been sidelined since round 12 with a knee injury, was the last Wombat to win the award in the 2021 COVID-impacted season.

In previous years, rover Rick Demarte (1994), ruckman Andrew Thomas (2001), Chris Eddy (2008), premiership coach Paul Burnett (2009) and Steve Thomson (2011) were named the league’s number one players of their respective seasons.

Cerrone has kicked 38 goals this season, including a guaranteed three-vote game when he kicked 10 against Girgarre.

The 2013 Lancaster Under-18s premiership player, who played in that win with his brother Tanner and coach Davies, has been among the best three on the ground in at least half a dozen games if the judges feeding me the information are correct.

The winner of this year’s award will probably need 20-plus to win the award, so a Lancaster victory is unlikely as Cameron Simpson and Tom Davies are the only players from the senior team invited to the count.

Last year’s McNamara Medal was won by century-goalkicking Violet Town forward Jack Exell, who won the individual honour after Stanhope’s Ryan Semmel was disqualified.

Semmel kicked 43 goals from the centre and was the stand-out mid-fielder of the competition.

Despite not missing a game due to his report against Murchison-Toolamba, he was found guilty and hence ineligible.

The eye-catching long sleeves of Adam Fishera make him a likely vote recipient, along with the fact he pushes forward from the mid-field to kick goals.

Ruckman Thomas McCluskey is Fishera’s major potential vote thief.

Longwood has won five games this year and Jye Formosa has been among the best three players on each occasion.

It wouldn’t surprise if he picked up the occasional one and two votes in losing teams and collected a 20-plus total.

Formosa is a combative but fair mid-fielder and the “feel good’’ factor associated with the club’s extraordinary improvement will become a factor for the men in green.

His long, flowing hair and dark beard also make him impossible to miss.

Ironically, his biggest problem will be from his brother Jordan, stealing a share of the votes from those historic wins.

Intercept-marking players are the flavour of the month and that brings Stanhope key defender Adam Lovison into contention.

Stanhope won nine games this season, but Lovison does need to compete with smooth-moving Nathan O’Reilly and goalkicking winger Jonathan Pearson.

KDL umpires do love the big goalkickers and Tomas Rennie has bags of 17, 10 and eight — along with two bags of five — that will earn him a double-figure vote tally.

Murchison-Tooolamba’s James Lloyd, the league’s leading goalkicker, has kicked six or more goals on seven occasions this season and with James Milne is his team’s best chance.

An even spread of star players means it will be difficult for a Nagambie player to walk away with the medal, although Tom Barnes’s 28 goals as a high half-forward and the silky mid-field skills of the Fothergill brothers (Nathan and Blake) make them outside chances.

Tallygaroopna coach Daniel Clarke shakes the hands of match officials before every game and will no doubt catch their attention as his team has won seven games for the year.

No players from the bottom-four teams are expected to feature but Merrigum captain Zak Parkinson, determined mid-fielder Jordan Easton and eye-catching goalkicker Jarryd Pertzel will be their team’s biggest pollers.

At Girgarre, Ryan Butler will poll in half a dozen games, while ruckman Nick Woods was best on ground in both the team’s wins this season.