Seniors
Horsham Saints’ midfielder Sam Clyne has been been awarded the 2016 P.J. Toohey medal after being voted the Wimmera Football League best and fairest by the umpires.
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Clyne was one of the favourites going into the night and had already taken out the Mail-Times Champion Footballer Award.
It was a crucial two votes awarded to Clyne in the last game of the season that saw him claim the medal ahead of Stawell’s Tom Eckel.
Eckel temporarily joined Clyne on 19 votes before the eventual winner edged ahead when the votes for the match between the Saints and Minyip-Murtoa were read out.
It was a final tally of 21 votes for Clyne.
Warrack coach Ryan McKenzie was third in the votes tally but was ineligible due to a suspension late in the season.
Clyne said winning the medal was surreal.
“I didn’t really expect it,” he said.
“I wasn’t quite adding it up when I was there.
“It was definitely a surprise; I thought Tommy might come over the top because he had a good year.”
Fourth in the count was Clyne’s teammate Jacob Cooke-Harrison with 12 votes.
Clyne said there was a banter between the two of them as the night progressed.
“He said if I win it I’ve got to thank him for kicking the goals and he’d have to thank me for kicking it to him,” he said.
The focus of the Saints’ players is now firmly on the grand final against Minyip-Murtoa on Saturday.
“To win another grand final would be unreal,” Clyne said.
“You can’t really party with the Toohey but you get to party with 21 other blokes on grand final day so it means a bit more to everyone.”
Reserves
Stawell’s Nathan Sabbo has taken out a tight 2016 Wimmera Football League reserves best and fairest with 17 votes.
Sabbo was third in the count in 2015 when he finished 15 votes behind Heath Kelm.
This year he went two better to beat out Warrack’s Jordan Taylor by just one vote.
Taylor spoke to the Wimmera Mail-Times in Sabbo’s absence.
Finishing third was Sabbo’s teammate Tom O'Neill with 14 votes.