Tom Lynch wins Gold Coast Suns best-and-fairest, night after All-Australian nod
TOM Lynch has claimed back-to-back Gold Coast best-and-fairest awards, adding to his maiden All-Australian cap from the night before.
Gold Coast
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TOM Lynch underlined his emergence as a star of the AFL on Friday night by retaining his Gold Coast club champion award.
The Suns vice-captain, labelled the game’s best player by the last great Queensland-based centre half-forward Jonathan Brown, was the only Gold Coast player named in the All-Australian side on Thursday night.
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Lynch joins captain Gary Ablett as a multiple club champion at the Suns.
The 23-year-old won the award in a landslide on a night that also saw the Suns announce a new two-year deal for ruckman Tom Nicholls.
Lynch polled 209 votes, 80 clear of the nearest challenger. It was the biggest winning margin in the club’s six-year history.
With 66 goals (equal third in the Coleman Medal tally alongside Adelaide’s Eddie Betts), Lynch was the Gold Coast’s leading goalkicker for the third season in a row after his tallies of 43 in 2014 and 46 last year.
Lynch sent a scare through Suns officials when his flight home from the All-Australian awards in Melbourne was postponed, leaving him and partner Olivia with just over an hour to get from the Gold Coast airport to last night’s function.
Jarrod Harbrow’s consistent year saw him finish runner-up with 129 votes. The popular veteran was also voted players player.
Third-year Sun Jack Martin’s first injury-free year saw him begin to realise his potential. He played 21 games to take his carer tally to 44 and finished third with 102 votes.
Steven May was left to rue his five-week ban for a brutal shirtfront on Lion Stefan Martin in the Q Clash. He stormed home late in the count, polling 70 of his 98 votes in the last seven games to finish fourth, ahead of Aaron Hall (93), Ablett (91) and Touk Miller (81).
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