McCarthy Homes News - Luca Winton wins his first Bill Peirce Medal

The 2019 Presentation Night & Bill Peirce Medal Count was held at McCarthy Homes Oval on October 19 in front of a packed house, with the Sherwood Footy Club function room again coming up a treat for the traditional vote count. (Senior Voting is done 5-4-3-2-1, with 3 coaches given a voting card each week)

In the main event, it was defender Luca Winton who held on to win his first Bill Peirce Medal as Senior Best & Fairest at the Magpies, going one better after his runner up finish in 2018.

It was an exciting count coming down to the last round with all of the Top 3 capable of winning the medal, Winton held a 4 vote lead from veteran Gareth Crawford and 14 clear of Rising Star winner and eventual runner up, Dan Edwards. By polling 3 votes, Winton couldn’t be caught by Edwards who subsequently polled 11 while Crawford didn’t poll in the final round, despite some moments of suspense as ruckman Gerard Moore polled votes and sharing the same initial as Gareth Crawford allowed the MC to have his own ‘Gillon McLachlan pause’ between initial and surname!

Winton had an excellent season polling in 12 of 16 rounds, and showed his versatility - regularly picking up the oppositions key forward, while continuing to show his trademark dash out of defence.

His story is a good one. The Sherwood junior decided to try his luck at the Pies in QAFL level after spending a few years in the NEAFL system before playing with mates at Kedron. He had no great expectations to play Seniors but in the 2018 pre-season he trained hard and impressed the coaches and was selected in Round 1 and never looked back. It is a matter of some conjecture that he was not selected in this year's QAFL Team of the Year. Luca received warm praise from club legend Bill Peirce when presented his medal.

For some observers, Dan Edwards was a revelation but to those in the know it was no surprise that he slotted into QAFL football seamlessly. The young Pie was a classy junior, being joint winner of the Colts Maurie McNamee Medal last year in a Premiership winning season,  so he had the ability to step up to the top grade. Edwards provided plenty of pace and energy on a wing and was more often than not named in the Pies’ best players in a majority of matches this season.

Crawford re-discovered the form that won him a Bill Peirce Medal in 2017 and was a constant source of drive from the midfield engine room this year and showed leadership in the tight games this year. Starting 2019 Crawford had virtually volunteered himself to see out his years in the Reserves as a 36 year old, but after just 3 rounds was quickly pushed back into the top grade and hit the ground running polling 51 votes in his first 4 games back, which saw him hold a 22 vote lead after Round 7 and looking hard to catch.

Riley Greene finished fourth in the Bill Peirce Medal count and the 17 year old was outstanding across half back, taking on and beating experienced opponents and was fearless in his attack on the ball. As a result he was a fitting recipient of the prestigious BG Award for "Courage and Commitment".

The Joe Schaffert-Kevin Garner Memorial Trophy for Most Consistent was awarded to another youngster in Ethan Sivijs, who while surprisingly not polling well in the vote count was regarded by most observers as one of the finds of the season. He played with great assurance across half back and grew into the role to be a fine contributor all season.

The Best Team Man was awarded to Jack Goodall, who was asked to often sacrifice his own game to play a role for the team spending large amounts of time as a midfielder despite joining the club as a key position player who previously went through the ruck for the Pies. His efforts were also recognised with a fifth place on the Bill Peirce Medal count.

Dan Edwards won the Rising Star Award in a tight contest from Riley Greene and Ethan Sivijs and the club is blessed to have such talented youngsters in its ranks.

The Coaches’ Award went to Brenton Saunders, who was asked to play a completely different role  in the back pocket after making a name for himself as a goal kicking small forward. He adapted well to be a fine player all season mopping up in defence

Leading Goalkicking Award was shared between Brody Lumber and Ryan Harwood.