PEIRCE MEDAL COUNT AN OPEN AFFAIR

The Western Magpies will hold their 2015 Vote Count and Presentation Night on Saturday night at Sherwood AFC Club at Chelmer. 

The highlight of the evening will be the vote count for the prestigious Bill Peirce Medal for Best and Fairest in First Grade. 

Like the Fremantle FC where Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe did not win the clubs best player award, Grogan Medal winner Callum Carseldine is no guarantee to win the Peirce Medal.

Carseldine will be a favourite to win the award but will have tough opposition from half backs Matt Davis and Luke Scott, half forward and 2008 winner Val Pope  and key defender Doug Lawrence.

2014 winner Ben Jaenke-Cain, runner-up Chris Hunt and third place getter Dominic Beer all had solid seasons in 2015 but did not have the outstanding seasons this year that they had last year which netted them the one-two-three finish.

Co-captain Carseldine was a popular winner of this year's Grogan Medal to join the Black and White's only previous winner in Bill Peirce. Such is the esteem that Peirce is held that the club's B & F Award is named after him. Carseldine has joined this elite company on the back of a season where he was in and under all day and won plenty of hard ball gets as well as linking up well through the midfield. 

For the first half of the season half back Matt Davis was a standout with strong intercept marking and decisive run out of half back to set the Pies goalward.

An ankle sprain in the latter half of the season resulted in a few missed matches which may cost him in the end but like Fyfe in the Brownlow, he may have done enough early in the season to get a strong lead and hold on in the finish.

Fellow half back Luke Scott had a consistent season on his return to the Pies and will be a chance to add to his Mt Gravatt B & F award of several years ago.

Scott fitted seamlessly back to the Pies and formed a powerful half back line with Davis and Lawrence which was one of the reasons the Magpies finished second on the QAFL ladder. 

His marking and class use of the football were highlights of his season and he rarely played a bad game. He was also used in the midfield and up forward at times and never failed to deliver for the team which underlined his versatility.

Val Pope oozes class and he will again be among the votes this year. He had two big goal hauls this year of 6 and 7 goals and finished well up in the QAFL goal kicking tally with 34 goals despite also playing long periods in the midfield. His poise and balance in traffic has enthralled Magpie supporters for many years and he is equally strong at ground level and in the air. 

Doug Lawrence may not have gained a vote in the Grogan Medal count (which was a surprise to say the least!!), but his season for the Pies has been simply outstanding. He will certainly win the Golden Fist Award with his defensive efforts and his closing speed to the contest, his marking and punching and ability to keep his feet were highlights. He lowered his colours only once during the season and was a major reason the Pies had an average of less than 10 goals per game kicked against them in the home and away season.

Drew Mitchell had a breakout season and will poll well and although unlikely to win the medal he will be up in contention for a Most Consistent Player Award.

Alex Dickfos kicked 60 goals this year to be third in the QAFL goal kicking list.

Rising Star Award will be between young guns Sam Copland and Riley Easton.

Past winners of the Bill Peirce Medal include Chris Mihalopoulos (2004), David Hamill (2006),  Val Pope (2008), Tim McEvoy (2007), Ben Heffernan-Roper (2009 and 2012), Ed McDonnell (2011), Jim Rozynski (2010 and 2013) and Ben Jaenke-Cain (2014).

The Presentation Night with Best and Fairest counts will e held at Chelmer on this Saturday, October 17th commencing at 6.15 pm with drinks and canapes before the official events commence at 7.00 pm  with a 2-course sit down dinner