South Barwon has received a pre-grand final boost courtesy of Doyle Madigan’s surprise Mathieson Medal win.
A mid-season surge, where the tough-as-nails midfielder attracted three votes in four rounds between rounds 9 and 12, was the catalyst for Madigan – who wasn’t selected in the Coaches Team of the Year – to claim the GFNL’s highest individual football honour.
Geelong West star Tanner Lovell, who missed four games while on Geelong VFL duty, finished runner-up on 17 votes.
Leopold captain Marcus Thompson and Bell Park counterpart Lachie Patten shared third spot on 15 votes.
Colac duo Darcy Lang and Zach Zdybel finished in a tie for fifth on 14 votes with St Joseph’s talisman Jack Buckley, who only played ten home-and-away games.
Madigan follows Swans captain Matt Caldow and big man Fraser Fort after they shared the award last year.
When the counting of votes went live at Round 10, Lovell had just earned best-on-ground honours in the Giants’ Round 9 win over Lara to move to 11 votes, while Madigan polled three votes in the victory against Bell Park to join Lang on ten votes,
Geelong West’s Emmanuel Ajang and St Mary’s Jarryd Garner sat a vote further back on nine apiece.
Lovell increased his lead to two after attracting one vote in the loss to St Joseph’s.
However, Madigan was about to make his move.
He added six votes to his tally from the wins over Geelong West and Grovedale in rounds 11 and 12, where he gathered 30 and 28 disposals, respectively.
It gave Madigan a four-vote buffer on Lovell.
However, it didn’t last long, with the Giant scoring three votes in the Round 13 win over Grovedale and one vote in the loss to St Mary’s the following week to tie Madigan on 16 votes with four rounds remaining.
Neither player polled in Round 15, but Thompson loomed as a threat when he pulled to within one vote after picking up three votes in the Lions’ win over South Barwon.
Lovell was recalled to Geelong’s VFL team in Round 16, while Thompson didn’t vote in Leopold’s hammering of St Albans.
However, Madigan polled what would eventually be the winning votes after a 16-disposal performance in South’s crucial victory over Bell Park.
An early head knock suffered by Thompson in the Round 17 hammering of North Shore that ruled him out of the final-round win over Newtown & Chilwell ended the hopes of Leopold’s leader.
Lovell was unable to attract a vote in significant losses to Colac and the Swans to round out the season, leaving Madigan all alone at the top of the leaderboard.
X: @krockfootball
BELL PARK
| Lachlan Patten | 15 |
| Hamish Lucas | 11 |
| Benjamin Lloyd | 8 |
| Isaac Wareham | 6 |
| Darcy Brown | 5 |
| Jack Sarcevic | 5 |
| Kaelan Bradtke | 3 |
| Benjamin Worme | 2 |
| Stephen Bensted | 2 |
| Eli Pearce | 1 |
| Ollie Bridgewater | 1 |
| Euriah Hollard | 1 |
| Rhys McWaters | 1 |
COLAC
| Darcy Lang | 14 |
| Zachary Zdybel | 14 |
| Adam Garner | 12 |
| Ryan Monaghan | 6 |
| Joel Cooper | 5 |
| Bailey Scott | 5 |
| Kody Spokes | 4 |
| Leigh Gorwell | 3 |
| Lachlan Simpkin | 2 |
| Dustin Walters | 1 |
| Luke Hillman | 1 |
| Aaron Hawker | 1 |
GEELONG WEST
| Tanner Lovell | 17 |
| Emmanuel Ajang | 13 |
| Riley Moore | 5 |
| Tylar Watts | 3 |
| Patrick Eastman | 3 |
| Lachie Horniblow | 2 |
| Ethan Liddle | 2 |
| Titit Nyak | 1 |
| Lachlan Taylor | 1 |
GROVEDALE
| Ryan Abbott | 12 |
| Nathan Deans | 7 |
| Tom Gillett | 4 |
| William Ford | 4 |
| Mitch Chafer | 3 |
| Brady Ferguson | 3 |
| Will Jeffery | 1 |
| Darby Henderson | 1 |
LARA
| Daniel Weigl | 5 |
| Bayley Cockerill | 4 |
| Thomas Gunther | 3 |
| Devon Smith | 3 |
| Mitchell Day | 2 |
| Tom Reynolds | 1 |
| Joshua Sanders | 1 |
| Ryan Bell | 1 |
| Bailey Ettridge | 1 |
| Bailey Harvey | 1 |
LEOPOLD
| Marcus Thompson | 15 |
| Brock Williamson | 10 |
| Logan Wagener | 10 |
| Mitchell Burgess | 7 |
| Billy Ritchie | 5 |
| Tom Feely | 5 |
| Connor Giddings | 5 |
| Oliver Tate | 5 |
| Tevan Nofi | 4 |
| Tate Porter | 4 |
| Trent Thompson | 3 |
| Samuel Scott | 3 |
| Jye Cross | 2 |
| Oscar Morphet | 1 |
| Kyle Bumpstead | 1 |
| Max Annandale | 1 |
NEWTOWN & CHILWELL
| Will O’Dwyer | 7 |
| Flynn Young | 6 |
| Cameron Wilkinson | 6 |
| Ned Harris | 6 |
| Luke Maddock | 4 |
| Matthew McMahon | 3 |
| Mitch Diamond | 2 |
| Joseph McDonald | 2 |
| Michael Condy | 1 |
| Zach Walter | 1 |
| Archie Lazzaro | 1 |
| Matty Lloyd | 1 |
| Charlie Harris | 1 |
NORTH SHORE
| Jacob Miljevic | 6 |
| Kobe Annand | 3 |
| Nathan Arbon | 2 |
| Cameron Anderson | 2 |
| Joseph Salmon | 2 |
| Harry Purcell | 1 |
| Brad Gerrard | 1 |
SOUTH BARWON
| Doyle Madigan | 19 |
| Taylor Mulraney | 9 |
| Patrick Kelly | 8 |
| Ben Kellett | 7 |
| Fraser Fort | 6 |
| Matthew Caldow | 5 |
| Jonty Broughton | 5 |
| Harry Cunningham | 3 |
| Jackson Carmody | 2 |
| Jake Peters | 2 |
| Dylan Starkie | 2 |
| Todd White | 1 |
| Chris Hughes | 1 |
| Blair Huggins | 1 |
ST ALBANS
| Jacob Russell | 6 |
| Sam Donegan | 6 |
| Brock McDonald | 2 |
| Hayden Elliot | 2 |
| Nathan Cole | 2 |
ST JOSEPH’S
| Jack Buckley | 14 |
| Paddy De Grandi | 12 |
| James Gow | 8 |
| Alex Hickey | 6 |
| Olivier Northam | 6 |
| Max McLachlan | 6 |
| Josh Nurnaitis | 6 |
| Luke Webb | 5 |
| Jack Mullen | 5 |
| Liam Betson | 3 |
| Harrison Smith | 3 |
| Oscar Morrison | 3 |
| James Hickey | 3 |
| Oliver Hanneysee | 3 |
| Jay Kirwood | 3 |
| Hunter Lewis | 2 |
| Joel Edwards | 2 |
| Lewis Antonac | 2 |
| Tanner Owen | 1 |
ST MARY’S
| Joe Maishman: | 13 |
| Harry Benson | 12 |
| Jarryd Garner | 9 |
| Brayden Ham | 8 |
| Sam Bourke | 7 |
| Jack Blood | 6 |
| Sam Dobson | 4 |
| Nicholas Minchin | 4 |
| Jesse Travaglini | 4 |
| Nicholas Connors | 3 |
| Lachy Peck | 3 |
| Damian McMahon | 3 |
| Zak Sherman | 3 |
| Kade Chalcraft | 3 |
| Matthew Keast | 2 |
| Kane Loftus | 2 |
| Matthew Copley | 2 |
| Charlie Sprague | 1 |
