GDFL Whitley Medal coaches predictions: Hawk leads charge in tight count
It will be an intriguing Whitley Medal count on Wednesday night if the coaches predictions are anything to go by, with eight different players getting a nod for the award.
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Inverleigh star Matt Tyquin is expected to take home his first Whitley Medal on Wednesday night, but it is not a foregone conclusion in the eyes of the league’s coaching fraternity.
Tyquin has enjoyed a stellar season in 2022, with the Hawks in a strong position to contend for a premiership after finishing the season second on the ladder with just three losses from 18 games.
But it is a relatively open field for potential winners, with Tyquin receiving five of the 12 votes.
Key forward Blake Dye is expected to poll well in a dominant year where he kicked 72 goals in 17 games through the home-and-away season.
Dye kicked four goals or more 12 times throughout the season, including two bags of six and two of seven majors.
Inverleigh coach Adam Donohue said Dye “stands out” as a vote-winner.
“I’m not too sure he has heaps of guys that will steal votes,” he said.
“I think he kicks five goals or more eight times, and the blonde hair stands out to the umpires I think.”
Dye is not the only key forward expected to poll well, with two coaches calling for Bell Post Hill Will Ford to lead the votes at the end of the season.
But Ford is ineligible to win the award, after accepting a two-match ban for intentional striking against Anakie halfway through the season.
Ford slotted 83 goals in the season, with six games of seven goals or more, including two bags of nine, one of 10 and one of 17.
If the count ends with Ford leading the votes, it will be the second consecutive season an ineligible Bell Post Hill player has led the count, after a suspended Boe Collins led the way in 2021.
East Geelong ruck Tim McLennan is the only other player in the competition to have received votes from multiple coaches, with a dominant second half to the season catapulting him into medal chances.
Bannockburn’s Luke Middleton and Billy Ritchie, East Geelong’s Tom Cordner-Maas and John McIntyre all polled solitary votes from the coaching fraternity.
Coaches Selections
Anakie – John McIntyre
Bannockburn – Tim McLennan/Luke Middleton
Bell Post Hill – Matt Tyquin
Belmont – Tom Cordner-Maas
Corio – Matt Tyquin
East Geelong – Tim McLennan
Geelong West – Blake Dye
Inverleigh – Blake Dye
North Geelong – Matt Tyquin
Thomson – Matt Tyquin
Werribee Centrals – Will Ford*/Matt Tyquin
Winchelsea – Will Ford*/Billy Ritchie
*Will Ford is ineligible to receive the award after receiving a two-week suspension.
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Originally published as GDFL Whitley Medal coaches predictions: Hawk leads charge in tight count
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