NFL: Northcote Park forward Ash Close looms as Northern Football League best and fairest contender
CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests big men don’t poll well in medal counts, but this Northcote Park forward has produced several games which should attract maximum votes this year.
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CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests big men don’t poll well in medal counts.
The last ruckman to win a Brownlow Medal was Scott Wynd in 1992 and a key forward has not claimed the coveted award since Tony Lockett shared it with John Platten in 1987.
Bundoora ruckman Matthew Dennis has bucked that trend by winning three Northern Football League best and fairests in the past six seasons, proving umpires don’t just notice midfielders at local level.
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Northcote Park key forward Ash Close could be the beneficiary of that attention this year and looms as a genuine contender for the Frank Rosbrook Medal.
Close, who is on Collingwood’s VFL list, produced another likely three-vote match when he kicked six goals in a 16.11 (107) to 12.9 (81) victory over Whittlesea on Saturday.
He would also be likely to receive maximum votes from an eight-goal effort against Montmorency and 10-haul against Hurstbridge.
“People think it’s his height, but he will lay tackles, he’ll hunt down, he’ll apply forward pressure,” Cougars coach Matt McLennan said.
“He will win the footy in the middle of the ground and then get back and all of a sudden he’s leading out from the goal square in the next passage of play.”
McLennan said Close, who is listed at 199cm, was “our best player, for sure” in the 26-point win over the Eagles.
“He was awesome in that first quarter. Getting higher up the ground, his workrate was enormous,” he said.
Close has averaged almost five goals per game in Northcote Park wins this year and is third on the league goalkicking table with 37 majors behind North Heidelberg’s Shane Harvey (42) and Montmorency spearhead Patrick Fitzgerald (40).
Harrison Reid, Michael Amad and Nick Carter were other key players for the Cougars in Round 12.
Northcote Park sits fifth on the Division 1 ladder, one of five teams with a 7-5 record who are separated by percentage.
McLennan said the Cougars were 2-3 weeks away from fielding their best team again due to injuries.
“We have just got to grind through the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“We had six under-19s playing the last two weeks which has been good for the development of the future of the club as well.
“Every cloud has a silver lining, they say.”
Heidelberg defeated Hurstbridge by 28 points, Macleod downed Greensborough by 25, North Heidelberg hammered Montmorency by 64 and Bundoora beat West Preston-Lakeside by 20 in other Division 1 matches.
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