Avenel’s Braydon Avola has gone one better this year to claim the medal for the best-and-fairest player in the league.
The midfielder actually finished second with 20 votes to Longwood’s Jye Formosa (21 votes), but a reprimand from a charging report in round seven cost Formosa the medal.
While not a suspension, a reprimand under the rules carries the same penalty — ineligibility to win the award.
Last year, Avola was runner-up to Violet Town’s Jack Exell, who finished second in the count to Stanhope’s Ryan Semmel, who was ineligible after being suspended.
Lancaster’s star centreman, Cameron Simpson, was runner-up with 18 votes, Shepparton East ruckman Tom McCluskey was third with 17 votes and the 2021 winner, Wombats coach Tom Davies, was fourth with 16 votes.
Next were Murchison-Toolamba’s James Lloyd and James Milne and Nagambie’s Trent Laverie, all with 14 votes.
Both Simpson and Davies played only 10 games.
In the A-grade netball Warren Medal count, Dookie United’s Gemma O’Sullivan was a runaway winner with 37 votes, nine clear of Girgarre’s Jacqui Gahan with 28 votes.
Merrigum’s Breanna Baker finished fourth with 23 votes.
Thirteen reports, now that’s a surprise
Must admit I was surprised to see so many players cited in the Kyabram District League grand final between Lancaster and Nagambie.
Five players have a date with the tribunal this week, while the other eight have accepted guilty pleas.
With a premiership riding on the result, I thought it was a fairly tame affair, with just a couple of flare-ups but nothing that would warrant 13 players being reported.
Umpires have a job to do and should always be respected, but I’m not alone in my thoughts that there may have been some over-umpiring and over-reporting in this game.
Wrong winner declared
Human error was the reason for the medal count catastrophe for the GVL Wellman Medal for A-grade’s best netballer of the year last week.
At the end of the count, Tatura’s Elsie Boyer was declared the winner by two votes from Seymour star Sarah Szczykulski, 27 to 25.
But Boyer was credited with an extra three votes she didn’t receive over the last six rounds, which left Boyer one vote behind Szczykulski in the final wash-up.
It’s not a situation you want for such a prestigious award and on a huge night for the league.
The GVL acknowledged it was a human error, so that’s the end of the story, embarrassing as it is for those responsible.
Liam stars for Golden Square
Former Kyabram premiership player Liam Barrett was one of the stars in Golden Square’s heart-stopping premiership win over Sandhurst in the Bendigo League grand final last Saturday.
Barrett kicked three telling goals in the last quarter, enabling Golden Square to claim the flag by a goal, 10.11 to 9.11.
Clubs eye league changes
Loddon Valley League club Marong is continuing its fight to join the Heathcote District Football Netball League.
It is asking the Heathcote League clubs to reconsider their decision not to admit Marong, Central Murray League club Cohuna and another Loddon Valley League club, Maiden Gully.
Marong recently won its second LV league flag in succession and has lost only one game in the past two years.
Marong’s main motivation to switch leagues is that the HDFL suits the club’s junior pathways more than its current league.
Three turn into two
There is an old saying that good things happen in threes.
As far as the Goulburn Murray footy region is concerned, that can be changed to ‘twos’.
Premiers of the Kyabram (Lancaster), Murray (Mulwala) and Picola (Waaia) leagues this season have all just completed successive flag wins.
And, of course, Echuca, the reigning GVL premier, completed the quaddie on Sunday when it beat Kyabram.
A great Barassi memory via ‘Huss’
The recent death of footy great Ron Barassi stirred the memory of former Shepparton News sports editor and Stawell Gift winner Noel Hussey.
‘Huss’ recalls attending an evening at the Waaia RSL Hall in 1967 when Barassi was the guest speaker and was accompanied on the night by a Carlton recruit of that year.
‘‘They were really big nights in that little town, and Barassi told the large audience that the recruit would become a VFL/AFL great although he was 22 years of age and hadn’t played a senior game at that stage,” he said.
The recruit in question was Alex Jesaulenko.
Barassi was right again.
Take two for Rokahr
The man who played a big role in ending Kyabram Football Club’s record-breaking winning streak in the 2018 GVL grand final, Nik Rokahr, has endured another agonising vote count to decide the best-and-fairest players in the South Australian National Football League.
Rokahr had to be content with being runner-up again after placing second in last year’s count for the Magarey Medal.
But there were some consolations for Rokahr.
He was named in the SANFL Team of the Year and collected his second Michael Taylor Medal for his club Norwood’s best-and-fairest award.
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