VFL & TAC Cup Finals Week 3 Preliminary Finals 19 - 20 September 2015 $3.00 Photo:Photo: Shane Shane Goss Goss / / @licoricegallery @licoricegallery Calder Cannon Features Bruno Laguda will take part in the 4 5 Morrish Medal night award winners Young Guns Game on Sunday 6 7 Club-by-club Morrish Medal votes 9 Development League GF preview 10 11 VFL & TAC Cup fi nals previews 14 Young Guns Game team lists Every week Editorial 3 VFL News 13 TAC Cup News 15 AFL Vic News 16 Club Whiteboard 18 19 Events 21 Connect with your club 22 23 Get Social 25 26 Draft Watch 48 Who’s playing who Preliminary Final 60 61 Preliminary Final 34 35 Box Hill Hawks vs Sandringham 44 45 Dandenong vs Eastern Preliminary Final Preliminary Final 36 37 Williamstown vs Essendon 46 47 North Ballarat vs Oakleigh Dev League Grand Final 38 39 Box Hill Hawks vs Williamstown Editor: Ben Pollard ben.pollard@afl vic.com.au Contributors: Anthony Stanguts Design & Print: Cyan Press Photos: AFL Photos (unless otherwise credited) Ikon Park, Gate 3, Royal Parade, Carlton Nth, VIC 3054 Advertising: Ryan Webb (03) 8341 6062 GPO Box 4337, Melbourne, VIC 3001 AFL Victoria CEO: Steven Reaper Phone: (03) 8341 6000 | Fax: (03) 9380 1076 State League & Talent Manager: John Hook www.afl vic.com.au High Performance Managers: Anton Grbac, Leon Harris State League & Talent Cover: 2015 Morrish Medallist Clayton Oliver from Operations Manager: Rhy Gieschen the Murray Bushrangers Talent Operations Coordinator: Sam Sheehan www.taccup.com.au 01 Television Online VFL Online Website: www.vfl .com.au Twitter: @VFL #PJVFL Facebook: www.facebook.com/vfl footy Saturday September 19 – 2.30pm Box Hill Hawks vs Sandringham TAC Cup Online Sunday September 20 – 2.30pm Website: www.taccup.com.au Williamstown vs Essendon Twitter: @TACCup Facebook: www.facebook.com/taccupfooty Next week: Grand Final, 2.30pm Sunday Radio VFL Live L Saturday September 19, Box Hill Hawks vs Sandringham, 2pm I Sunday September 20, Williamstown vs Essendon, 2pm Live on Digital Radio via Aussie, Red Time Sport and SEN iPhone Apps, V online via vfl .com.au or sen.com.au E Coverage also on 1116am SEN Next week: Grand Final from 2pm Sunday TAC Cup Radio R Saturday September 19 A 11.15am: Dandenong Stingrays vs Eastern Ranges D I 2pm: North Ballarat Rebels vs Oakleigh Chargers O Listen live on the Red Time Sport iPhone App or www.taccup.com.au Next week: TAC Cup Grand Final from 11am Sunday 3WBC Saturday September 19 from 11am Development League Grand Final: Box Hill Hawks vs Williamstown Senior Preliminary Final: Box Hill Hawks vs Sandringham Listen to 94.1FM, online at www.3wbc.org.au or the Tune In Radio app Fox Footy Sunday September 27: TAC Cup Grand Final from 11am Video Streaming Visit vfl .com.au for a replay of all games that were live video streamed during 2015. Follow the Media tab in the drop down box. Also watch replays of the VFL’s J. J. Liston Trophy night and the TAC Cup’s Morrish Medal night. 02 www.vfl .com.au One step closer to Grand Final day The season is fl ashing past, with just two weekends left until the curtain is drawn on the year and the premiers are decided in the Peter Jackson VFL and TAC Cup. Big crowds and increased interest in all our competitions has been pleasing in recent weeks. Last weekend we celebrated the fi nale to the VWFL season with Darebin continuing its winning streak in Premier Division and Cranbourne breaking its premiership drought in the Division 1 competition. It was fantastic to see Piranha Park in Coburg bathed in sunshine and so many neutral supporters turn out to experience women’s football. Huge crowds ventured to North Port Oval last weekend with a number of AFL supporters starved of fi nals action for their clubs turning to the VFL for a football fi x. The standard of football did not disappoint across the weekend and we look forward to a bumper weekend again with no AFL matches scheduled on Saturday or Sunday in Melbourne. It opens up a unique opportunity for the competition next weekend with two AFL preliminary fi nals in Western Australia. I urge all VFL and football fans to spread the word about our VFL Legendairy Grand Final at Etihad Stadium on Sunday September 27, and let’s try and eclipse our crowd fi gure of close to 24,000 for the 2014 Grand Final. In the TAC Cup we are looking forward to a Country versus Metro battle this weekend across the preliminary fi nals with the two most recent premiers – the Oakleigh Chargers and Eastern Ranges – facing the top two country teams in the competition in the North Ballarat Rebels and Dandenong Stingrays. It will be the fi nal chance to see some of these players before they make their way to the AFL in 2016. Last Sunday night, Country continued its dominance this year at the Morrish Medal night at Etihad Stadium. In the TAC Cup Team of the Year, 16 of the 24 positions went to Country players, along with coach of the year David Loader from the Rebels. Murray Bushranger Clayton Oliver walked away with the Morrish Medal, the fi ft h year in a row a Country player has received the competition’s top honour. Our 2015 winner was shocked to receive the award, but the fact that many of his peers he had played against during the season tipped him as a chance was recognition of his fi ne season. In his on-stage interview he was honest about why he was not selected for Vic Country this season, realising his pre-season injury concerns hampered his chances and knowing the star-studded line-up the Vic Country squad had in 2015. It is a credit to his football ability that aft er a slow start to the year recovering from injury, his game improved so much that he went from one vote in the Morrish count in the fi rst nine rounds to racing home to claim the Medal in the fi nal round with three votes and 15 overall. Well done to Oliver and all the other award winners on the night. Enjoy your weekend at the football and I hope to see you at the fi nale to our season next Sunday at Etihad Stadium. Steven Reaper AFL Victoria CEO www.taccup.com.au 03 Oliver swoops on Morrish Murray Bushranger Clayton Oliver claimed the 2015 Morrish Medal for the TAC Cup’s best and fairest player in a thrilling conclusion to the vote count on Sunday night. The 18-year-old midfi elder trailed Eastern Ranges small forward Darcy Crocker by two votes before the fi nal home-and-away round, but polled three votes for a 27-disposal, six-goal performance in Murray’s 66-point win against the Bendigo Pioneers in Round 18. Crocker had led the count outright since Round 10 but didn’t feature in Eastern’s last match against the Sandringham Dragons, leaving the door open for challengers to swoop. Oliver fi nished on 15 votes, one ahead of Crocker and Northern Knights captain Jade Gresham on 14. Gresham and Ranges forward Blake Hardwick were also in a position to strike ahead of the fi nal round – sitting just one vote behind Crocker – but Gresham only drew one vote for 33 disposals and three goals in one-point win against the Gippsland Power, while Hardwick had limited impact in a loss to Sandringham. Aft er only polling one vote in the fi rst half of the season, Oliver emerged with a 14-vote fl urry over the last nine rounds, including four best-on-ground performances. The Mooroopna product played 14 home-and- Clayton Oliver in action for the Murray Bushrangers away matches for the Bushrangers, averaging over 24 disposals and almost six tackles per game. He was the no.2 ranked player in the league for total 2015 MORRISH MEDAL LEADERBOARD handballs and also kicked 18 goals. Clayton Oliver (Murray Bushrangers) 15 Gresham polled in the most matches (eight) of any player, but bagged the three votes only twice. Darcy Crocker (Eastern Ranges) 14 With prolifi c midfi elder Ryan Clarke fi nishing in fi ft h Jade Gresham (Northern Knights) 14 position on 12 votes and tackling machine Aaron Blake Hardwick (Eastern Ranges) 13 Fenton one of three players two votes further back, the Eastern Ranges boasted four of the top eight on Ryan Clarke (Eastern Ranges) 12 the fi nal leaderboard. Aaron Fenton (Eastern Ranges) 10 Gippsland, which has produced Morrish Medal winners in fi ve of the last seven seasons, were Aloysio Ferreira (Gippsland Power) 10 best represented by Aloysio Ferreira on 10 votes alongside Fenton and Murray key forward Josh Josh Schache (Murray Bushrangers) 10 Schache. Lachlan Williams (Dandenong Stingrays) 9 Oliver becomes Murray’s third Morrish Medallist in Jacob Hopper (North Ballarat Rebels) 9 the club’s 23-year history, with Derek Murray (1997) and Farran Priest (joint-winner, 2008) the other Kieran Lovell (Tasmania) 9 Bushrangers to have triumphed. 04 www.vfl .com.au Gresh is best Jade Gresham has added to the Northern Knights’ rich history in the TAC Cup Coaches Award by comfortably taking out the 2015 edition, presented at the Morrish Medal night on Sunday. The 18-year-old Knights captain became the seventh player in the club’s 24-year history to claim the award, which is based on a system of 5-4-3-2-1 voting done by both coaches in combination aft er each game.