BIG CHANCE: Pittsworth forward Matt Briggs had a big season and could be in the running for the Price-Webcke Medal tonight. Kevin Farmer FIRST the race for the finals was close.
Now there are plenty of players in the running to take out the Price-Webcke Medal at tonight's TRL presentation at Rumours International.
At least a handful of players could arrive at the awards night thinking they are a genuine chance of taking out the player of the year honour.
While he may not have been able to help his Wattles team progress to the third week of the finals, Warriors halfback Matt Duggan has had a big year.
He has steered Wattles around the park in style and was in a rich vein of form late in the season, before picking up an injury in the first week of the finals.
Fellow halfback Jason Wilmot has also been instrumental in guiding Gatton through to its first A grade grand final in 24 years.
He and five-eighth Ashley Boney joined the club in the off-season and have proved the difference for the Hawks.
Wilmot was also a member of the Toowoomba Clydesdales representative squad earlier in the year showing just how high of a regard he is held in across the competition.
Steven Lee also changed clubs in the off-season and it paid off as well as the Highfields fullback was a key cog behind the Eagles' push for a maiden finals appearance.
Lee cemented his place at the back for Highfields after previously being viewed as a utility and he proved a danger man in attack and more than capable in defence.
And given Highfields made it through to a mid-week play-off for fifth spot, Lee could have polled plenty of votes throughout the season.
The player of the year race will feature more than just flashy backs as well.
Pittsworth prop Matt Briggs has established himself as one of the premier big men in the TRL and his efforts throughout the year were pivotal in helping the Danes reach the finals for the first time since 2009.
Souths hooker Jake Laing also had a purple patch in the middle of the season and should also feature near the top of the votes tally.
The only issue for Laing in taking out the honour is that team mates of the likes of Ronnie David and Nathan Murphy could have taken too many votes off him, according to Tigers coach Russell Bailey.
"Jake missed a few games and I think he would have had votes taken off him by Ronnie and Ned," he Bailey.
Bailey thinks Briggs is a good chance.
"I suspect Matty Briggs will be right up there. I thought he should have won it last year," the Souths coach said.
The player of the year award will be decided slightly different to past years.
Previously, referees and club presidents used to award points on a 3-2-1 basis, but this year 3-2-1 votes have been allocated by opposing coaches.
The winning coach awarded a player from the losing team two votes, while the losing coach allocated three votes to the best player on the winning team and one vote to the player they thought was second best for the victorious squad.
No comments:
Post a Comment