COHUNA’S Joel Helman joined Harry Allen as a dual Jack Betts Medallist at Sunday night’s Central Murray best and fairest vote count, with the onballer polling 24 votes to share the award with the Mallee Eagles co-coach and Tooleybuc-Manangatang ruckman Connor Mcdonald.
It was the first time in the prestigious award’s history that a three-way tie was recorded, with Kerang veteran Marty Kelly finishing as runner-up on 17 votes.
Having previously won the medal in 2018, Helman joins a long list of multiple winners, which now also includes Allen, who previously won in 2019.
It was a surprise result for Helman, who received news of his win only on Monday morning after going to bed before the count started.
“I went to bed last night thinking I might at best poll in the top five but thought I had no chance of winning it,” Helman said.
“I was actually asleep when it happened and woke up to a heap of messages in the morning.
“I thought halfway through the year, when we were sitting third bottom on the ladder, I was no chance because when you’re losing games you’re not polling any votes.
“I thought we’d lost too many games for me to go anywhere near it.
“Then when we started winning games, I wasn’t focused on that as I was just worrying about trying to win the flag more than anything.
“I had a heap of messages this morning saying ‘You’re coming back, you’re coming back’.
“It would have been good to be there.”
After joining the likes of Dean Bennett, Xavier Moloney and Lance Brown among those to have won the medal twice, with Helman described the achievement as “a great honour”.
“When you look at the talent running around in the Central Murray, to even get into the top five it’s just a real honour,” Helman said.
“To be even named with the best players in the league is a bit surreal because the standard is just rising every season, and to win two of them is a huge honour.
“Harry (Allen) is a star of the game and he’s played years and years of consistently good footy so it was no surprise seeing him up there, especially with the way Mallee have played this year and having gone so close to getting into the grand final.
“Connor Mcdonald has had an absolute standout season and if he didn’t go overseas, he would have run away with it.
“He towelled us up a couple of times and played some amazing footy and is such a dominant player for them (Tooleybuc-Manangatang).”
Helman was a key contributor in the Kangas’ second-half resurgence, with his team going on an eight-game winning streak to sneak into fourth spot and play finals this season after a slow start.
While their elimination-final loss still burns, Helman is already looking ahead to next season, with one dream still left unfulfilled for the 29-year old – for now.
“I was going to retire at the start of this year and every year I say this is my last year, but I’ll be back again now after this,” Helman said.
“I always keep myself pretty fit during the pre-season but when it comes around I always question myself if I want to go another year and play again.
“I wake up every Sunday morning sore and can hardly walk, but once you get into the habit of the season and you remember how much you enjoy it, it’s never a question.
“At the moment I’m on the Kangas’ bandwagon: I want the club to do well and finally break the drought of wining a premiership in the Central Murray.
“I’d trade everything in for a premiership medal and I look at the Kerang boys envious of what they’ve achieved – I’d die to just win one of them at Cohuna.
“That’s why the majority of the boys are hanging around for another year.
“Most of the boys travel from Melbourne and Bendigo, which is a massive commitment as Cohuna is the closest game for them, but we all want that premiership glory here at our club.
“We could go to Bendigo or wherever and win flags but it doesn’t mean anything unless you win one for your home club.
“I nearly went to Bendigo this year to play footy and I could have potentially played in a premiership team, but it wouldn’t have meant anywhere near as much as winning one here (at Cohuna).
“I would have been gutted if I’d gone to a Bendigo team and won a flag but Cohuna won a flag also.
“It just means so much more for me to win one at Cohuna than anywhere else.”
