MUCH-LOVED Quambatook midfielder Ricky Wild gave the Saints’ faithful one last reason to cheer on Monday night at the Golden Rivers Football Netball League presentation night, after winning the EG Hunt Medal as the competitions Best & Fairest player.
After polling seven votes from the opening seven rounds of the season, Wild then caught fire – polling in every game between Rounds 8 and 14, including best on ground performances against Nullawil in Round 8 and Macorna the following week. Wild’s victory was confirmed with one round still to be counted, when Wandella’s Kane Timmins polled just one vote in the penultimate game of the season – and handing Wild an unassailable four-vote lead heading into the final match of the season.
Wild then polled the last vote in the history of the Quambatook Football Club – picking up the 1 vote in the Saints’ 89-point victory over Macorna in the final round of the season, with teammates Tobie Cameron (3 votes) and Gregor Knight (2 votes) clean sweeping the final card in the club’s history.
Wild (22 votes) finished four votes clear of the fast-finishing Jordan Humphreys of Nullawil, with the pre-count favourite polling 18 votes to finish as Runner-Up, ahead Timmins and last year’s EG Hunt Medallist Matt Quigley, who finished tied for third with 17 votes.
The 34-year-old Quambatook veteran was a popular winner, with the room standing and applauding Wild, who was still clearly taking everything in when speaking at the conclusion of the evening.
“I’m in shock to be honest – I would have been happy to get just a couple of votes, I was certainly not expecting this when I walked in tonight,” Wild said.
“I thought I played pretty ordinary in the last three rounds, but I must not have gone too bad – I’m my own harshest critic, but you don’t get anywhere if you’re kind to yourself.”
“It’s been a tough couple of days for the club – but this is one for the club, it’s one for everyone involved, that’s the way I see it.”
Quambatook’s heart-breaking 7-point loss to Moulamein in Saturday’s Preliminary Final was the club’s last involvement in the Golden Rivers Football Netball League, after the club announced earlier this year that season 2022 would be the club’s last. With that in mind, Monday night brought about a mix of emotions for Wild – the tough midfielder who wears his heart on his sleeve, week in, week out.
“It wasn’t an ideal finish to our season – I spent two hours in front of the heater yesterday with tears in my eyes,” Wild said.
“I’m pretty passionate about my footy and I’m pretty passionate about this footy club – this (medal) is one for everyone to enjoy, I suppose.”
“We know we had the team to do it, but if we had of won, we would have had a few guys that wouldn’t have been able to play with injuries from the weekend.”
“From that point of view, it’s probably good that Moulamein got through, they’ll have a full side and be able to give it a good crack, because you need to be 100 per cent to beat Nully.”
“But all good things have to come to an end and unfortunately, it’s Quamby’s time – I think there’ll be a few more clubs go after us, but it’s just the way things are at the moment, but it’s still pretty sad and raw.”
While Wild had many people to thank on the night, he saved special recognition to his wife Jenna, along with his coach Tim Free.
“My wife deserves thanks, she’s always telling me to get off the phone and stop talking about footy – even on my honeymoon and we were sitting on the beach overseas and she was telling me to stop messaging players,” Wild said.
“She’s been my rock – and my kids, who come along each week and support me, they’re my No.1 fans.”
“Tim has been incredible for me and my footy – just the way he speaks, gives clear direction and our good structure is all down to him.”
“He immediately put a good structure in place the minute he walked into the place and set us straight, along with bringing some good players in – he’s been a massive influence on me and my footy.”
Free, who has been Wild’s coach since 2019, was effusive in his praise of his star midfielder when speaking after the announcement – with the result coming as no surprise to him.
“He’s been a phenomenal player over the last couple of seasons – but more than that, he’s a great leader around the club,” Free said.
“We elevated him to an assistant coaching role this year, he’s our senior captain and he leads by example with everything he does, both on and off the field.”
“He prepares as well as anyone I’ve seen play at Golden Rivers level and it was certainly no surprise to me to see him poll well – not only that, he’s a great bloke as well and someone who I would consider to be a good friend.”
Nullawil’s Mitch Farmer won the Seniors Leading Goal Kicker award, after kicking 76 goals for the home-and-away season – 25 more than Runner-Up and teammate Andrew Oberdorfer. The other major football award of the night went to Murrabit’s Jordan McNeil, who won the Keith Den Houting Rookie of the Year award, beating Hay’s Jensen Hargreaves – while Moulamein’s Jack Jones won the Mark of the Year and Macorna’s Malcolm Neiwand won the Goal of the Year.
