Cotchin captures JackBy Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
10:42 PM Tue 13 Sep, 2011Young gun midfielder Trent Cotchin has won the 2011 Jack Dyer Medal.
Cotchin became a first-time Jack Dyer Medallist with a decisive victory in tonight’s Richmond Best and Fairest count, held in the Palladium Ballroom at Crown.
He polled 236 votes to defeat two-time winner, Brett Deledio, who finished on 203 votes, with Dustin Martin third on 198 votes. Bachar Houli, 181 votes, and Ty Vickery, 161 votes, rounded out the top five place-getters.
At just 21, Cotchin is the same age as Deledio was when he won his first Jack Dyer Medal in 2008, making him one of the youngest Best and Fairest winners in Tigerland’s history.
Cotchin took the lead in the count after Round 4, briefly lost it to Martin soon after, but then held sway for the remainder of the voting.
The Jack Dyer Medal triumph capped off an excellent season from Cotchin, who played all 22 home-and-away games for the first time in his four-year AFL career, and was inspirational throughout with his hard work and creativity in the Tigers’ midfield.
Cotchin was ranked No. 2 at the Club for total disposals, with 530, at an average of just over 24 per game. On 17 occasions, he had 20 disposals or more, with a career-high 38 v Geelong at Etihad Stadium in Round 18.
He was ranked No. 1 at the Club for clearances (135), No. 1 for inside-50 entries, and also hit the scoreboard, finishing with 18 goals for the season.
Deledio maintained his fine Jack Dyer Medal showing of recent years, with his second placing this year, following his third placing in 2010, and his back-to-back success in 2008-09.
The 24-year-old again managed to play all 22 games, reaching the 150-game milestone in the final round of the season. Remarkably, he has missed just four games out of a possible 154 in his seven-year league career at Richmond.
Deledio was ranked No. 1 at the Club in the total disposals category, for the third year in-a-row, with a career-high 563, at an average of 25.5 per game. He had 20 disposals or more 18 times during the season and was ranked No. 1 at the Club for rebound-50s (82) and No. 4 for inside-50s (85).
Martin had a major impact in just his second season at the game’s highest level, combining powerful midfield work with potency in attack for the Tigers.
The 20-year-old was rewarded for his efforts by finishing one place higher in the Jack Dyer Medal count this year than his fourth placing on debut in 2010.
He was ranked No. 3 at the Club for total disposals, with 486, at an average of 22.09 per game, collecting 20 disposals or more 15 times.
Martin was ranked No. 2 at the Club for inside-50s (93), No. 2 for goal assists (20), No. 3 for goals (33) and No. 4 for clearances (82).
Houli had a significant impact in his first season at Richmond after joining the Club from Essendon at the end of last year.
The 23-year-old helped set up many scoring opportunities for the Tiger team during the season with his long, clearing dashes out of defence and spearing left-foot kicks.
He played all 22 games and was ranked No. 4 at the Club for total disposals, with 478, at an average of 21.73 per game. On 13 occasions, he had 20 disposals or more in a match.
Houli was ranked No. 1 at the Club for total marks (127) and No. 4 for rebound-50s (68).
Vickery had a breakout season of AFL football in 2011.
The 200cm 21-year-old spent most of the season on the Tigers’ forward line, where he proved a huge handful for opposing defences with his height, marking prowess and all-round footy ‘smarts’.
He was ranked No. 5 at the Club for total marks (95), No. 2 for contested marks (29), No. 2 for goals (36) and No. 2 for hit-outs (156).
The voting system for the Jack Dyer Medal is, as follows . . .
After each game, the five members of the Club’s match committee cast votes for each of the team’s 22 players.
Each player receives zero to five votes from each coach, so the most an individual player can poll in a match is 25 votes.
Five votes are awarded for an outstanding performance, four for an excellent game, all the way down to zero if the player is well beaten on the day.
Following is a list of the top 10 vote-getters in the 2011 Jack Dyer Medal:
2011 Jack Dyer Medal1st Trent Cotchin 236 votes (Jack Dyer Medal winner)
2nd Brett Deledio 203 (Jack Titus Medal winner)
3rd Dustin Martin 198 (Maurie Fleming Medal winner)
4th Bachar Houli 181 (Fred Swift Medal winner)
5th Ty Vickery 161 (Kevin Bartlett Medal winner)
Eq. 6th Alex Rance 159
Eq. 6th Robin Nahas 159
8th Nathan Foley 150
9th Jack Riewoldt 149
10th Shaun Grigg 137
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