The Central Murray Football Netball League will tonight (Tuesday) crown their champion player for season 2021, in what could well be one of the most wide-open Jack Betts Medal vote counts in recent memory.
With each player having played only ten games this season instead of the usual sixteen, tonight’s vote count could potentially see a shock winner, especially with no clear favorite emerging from the eleven round home and away season.
The one player who was expected to poll well was Cohuna’s Joel Helman, a previous Jack Betts Medal winner in 2018; however, Helman will be ineligible to win the award should he poll the most votes, having received a two-week suspension following the Kangas win over Balranald in Round 10.
He isn’t the only Cohuna player that’s expected to poll well however, with Kangas Assistant Coach Tom Toma also having a season to remember.
With Cohuna having lost just one game for the season and with Toma being named among his team’s better players in all bar two matches, one could expect him to be near the top of the leaderboard come nights end.
The question is whether Helman, as well as teammates Tyson Findlay, Jackson Williams and Rhys Free take to many votes off Toma through the early rounds of the count.
Jye Barry is another who is expected to poll well, having already won The Guardian’s LJ Hooker Player of the Year for 2021.
Barry had a sensational year through the midfield for Woorinen and had four best on ground games according to the Woorinen coaching staff in Rounds 1, 5, 6 and 9.
Considering the Tigers won all four of those games and if the umpires agree, Barry could well be looking at 12 votes from those three matches alone.
Kerang will be another club who will have a number of contenders for the Jack Betts, but like the Kangas, they may well end up taking votes off each other which could hurt their chances.
Bryce Curnow and Sam Heavyside both polled extremely well in The Guardian LJ Hooker Player of the Year award and play the type of football that usually gets noticed by the umpires.
They will also have to contend with Ryan Gillingham, Brad Pay, Marty Kelly and Jesse Clark, who all had strong seasons and should also poll strongly.
Reigning champion Harry Allen will be a chance to make it back-to-back medals after another good season and will be one of the leading chances for the Mallee Eagles, along with Toby Sheahan.
Or could it be a non-midfielder who wins the award for the first time since Ryan O’Sullivan in 2014? Toby Thoolen had a very consistent season in the ruck for Swan Hill and should poll well having been among the Swans better players in a number of their wins; while Arnold Kirby’s dominant start to the season should see him jump out to an early lead through the opening rounds of the count.
Swan Hill’s Tom Holdstock, Woorinen’s Doug Palmer and Tyntynder’s Marcus Wattie are also not without a chance of winning and could well cause a surprise upset.
Wattie in particular could surprise many, having played well in all five of Tyntynder’s wins and with none of his teammates having standout seasons to pinch votes off.
Jake Dick-O’Flaherty and Corey Daniels, who are both fresh off winning their respective club Best & Fairest’s are also expected to poll well, although with the Raiders and Demons winning only two and three games, will probably struggle to score enough three votes to take the win.
The Jack Betts Medal count, along with the A Grade Netball Best & Fairest vote count can be seen on the Central Murray Football Netball League Facebook page live from 6pm this evening.
