MFC 2018 Best & Fairest - The Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Just now, bing181 said:

To be fair, he finished 11th, 1 vote behind Lewis. All he had to do for the games he missed was to be out there for that to have been reversed.

Still. Even a close finish is a helluva drop. Says a lot about the quality of the list. Not even the guy who came third in the Brownlow could crack the top 5.

[Pates 9,660]

Well done to all the top ten getters, not gonna lie tha Lewis sneaking in at 10 surprises me but I'm sure there are on field leadership things that he does that we simply don't know about. 

Congrats to Maxxy, really well deserved. First ruckman since Jeff White to win the award and only the second time since Jimmy. Top notch season. 

[Fork 'em 6,983]

44 minutes ago, olisik said:

Surely bombing the ball into the 50 time and time again is not part of the team play. Or jogging 20m off contests.

I'm sure it is.
The coach calls it " Kaos footy."
Or as I like to refer to it " Moronic skill less footy."
 

Edited October 1, 2018 by Fork 'em

[Neitz the Great 555]

So what was this "big announcement" that I seemed to have missed?
 

[RalphiusMaximus 6,024]

1 minute ago, Fork 'em said:

I'm sure it is.
The coach calls it " Kaos footy."
Or as I like to refer to it " Moronic skillless footy."
 

It's our patented Spam attack.  You just keep belting the ball into the 50 and eventually the laws of probability will catch up and one of them will result in a goal.  Repeat endlessly and hope your defence stands up to the opposition's more refined attacks. 

[Demon Disciple 12,068]

Just now, Neitz the Great said:

So what was this "big announcement" that I seemed to have missed?
 

it will be coming in the next couple of months methinks.

[nosoupforme 3,085]

If you ever wanted to here a speech from our best and fairest for 2018 in Max Gawn that was the one that will inspire our great club to even greater heights.   He is certainly an inspiration to the way  he feels about all of his 40 brothers. Melbourne through and through.

James  Harmes  finished 3rd and with no surprise to many of us. I believe he went up a notch this year and another step is not beyond him. He is a fair dinkum Melbourne boy and a credit to  his Family. 

I just want to thank Peter Jackson for steering our  great club  and making it for what it is today, Driving it towards being a power house in the years and beyond. You came at a critical time and you will leave us in a healthy state. your a Demon for life.

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

1 minute ago, Neitz the Great said:

So what was this "big announcement" that I seemed to have missed?
 

Gawn’s mum reads Demonland.

[deanox 9,898]

10 minutes ago, Dappa Dan said:

Interesting that Hogan was AA at the midway, and then didn't crack top 10. OMac similarly was pushing top 5 early on.

Think about the names that aren't there, that are good enough... Viney, Hibberd (AA), Lever, Petracca, Melksham...

Bit stiff on Melksham who came 7th!

But the converse to Hogan is that TMac wasn't in the top 10 at round 16 but finished 5th. Those two missed games at either end of the season and TMacs form got stronger while Hogan tapered.

Missing the last 5-6 through injury makes it very hard when a couple of players storm home. 

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

1 minute ago, deanox said:

Bit stiff on Melksham who came 7th!

But the converse to Hogan is that TMac wasn't in the top 10 at round 16 but finished 5th. Those two missed games at either end of the season and TMacs form got stronger while Hogan tapered.

Missing the last 5-6 through injury makes it very hard when a couple of players storm home. 

Oh he did too, sorry.

Yeah. But even with Hogan getting his foot hurt mid season and never being quite right since then, he still racked up a bunch of games in the 90-100+ SC points area, albeit against weaker sides like Freo and GC... You'd think they'd have been enough, but... as I said... says a lot about how we played those last few and the quality of the list. I tell you what, a lot of players would have had massive numbers vote wise in the last two games. We were dominant all over the ground.

[Adam The God 30,129]

PJ's speech. ?????

[Jaded No More 68,867]

Tried to stay awake to watch coverage from overseas, but after being awake for 43 hours straight, I just couldn’t do it. Sounds like it was a great night. 

Will be watching the speeches shortly. 

Any word on Hogan from anyone who was there?

[Drunkn167 5,093]

4 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Troy Broadbridge Memorial Trophy for 2018 - Best VFL Player 

Cameron Pedersen

Well deserved. I was sitting in the table with his parents and they were in tears.

[Neitz the Great 555]

1 minute ago, Drunkn167 said:

Well deserved. I was sitting in the table with his parents and they were in tears.

Any gossip from the BNF Drunkin?

[deanox 9,898]

1st Gawn 657 votes, 25 games, 26.3 vpg

2nd Oliver 595, 25, 23.8

3rd Harmes 468, 25, 18.7

4th Jones 449, 25, 18

5th TMac 433, 20, 21.7

6th Brayshaw 429, 22, 19.5

7th Melksham 428, 23, 18.6

8th Salem 403, 24, 16.8

9th Jetta 383, 25, 15.3

10th Lewis 366, 24, 15.3

11th Hogan 365, 20, 18.3

 

1) It sounds obvious but playing lots of games is key to finishing high.

2) Gawn streets ahead per game,  and Oliver and TMac similarly on their own ahead of the pack. 

3) Of those listed above, Hogan is top 6 in votes per game. 

4) Oscar (25, 346, 13.8) ANB (25, 322, 12.9), Petracca (24, 268, 11.1), Fritsch (23, 261, 11.3), Hibberd (21, 317, 15.1) the other players above 20 games not in the top 11. But not everyone can finish top 10, especially when 16 players play 20+ games.

5) Other notable vpg are: Viney (a massive 24.4 vpg), VDB (17.9), Frost (13.4), Hannan (12.1) and for good measure Spargo (11.6).

6) After 16 rounds Oscar had 223 votes (14.8 vpg) and Hibberd 199 (13.2 vpg). Given they were in the top 10 at round 16 with low votes per game it suggests the coaches gave higher votes per game towards the end of the season compared to the start of the season,  dragging the average votes per game of the top 11 (and maybe the whole squad) up. 

7) The very high votes per game of VDB and Viney correlates with the overall student increase in votes per game later in the season. Similarly Oliver's vpg is higher in the back half than front half which surprises me based on his performance. 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2018 by deanox

[deanox 9,898]

For anyone wondering:

Melbourne’s best and fairest votes were cast by four members of the club’s match committee. They gave players a score from zero to 10 for each game.

 

I like this type of system better than the 3-2-1 as it rewards consistent performance not a select number of best on grounds. The only problem is the significant penalty associated with missing games, thus my votes per game analysis above. 

[Demonland 71,622]

 

[Matsuo Basho 1,053]

1 hour ago, Dappa Dan said:

Interesting that Hogan was AA at the midway, and then didn't crack top 10. OMac similarly was pushing top 5 early on.

Think about the names that aren't there, that are good enough... Viney, Hibberd (AA), Lever, Petracca, Melksham...

Melky was there, finishing an admirable 7th.

Absolutely rapt for James Harmes. A case study in application, dedication and self belief. 3rd B&F in a side that made a prelim is some effort for a guy that was in the fringe of selection 18 months ago.

Brendan McCartney is just so good in that mentoring/development role. Best in the business.

Next season it’s your turn Christian Petracca. A guy with that level of talent should be pushing for top 5 in the B&F every year from now on ... or he’s not trying hard enough.

Edited October 1, 2018 by EnterTheDragon

[Bates Mate 4,468]

Just left the afterparty . BOG contenders. T Mac. Gus . Lever. And Clarry. All players in good spirits  levers dance moves are Mr bean like. Hogan amongst it . Jeffy was a bit of a lonely figure. Jones getting around to every group was great to see. Very interesting to see the different Clicks amongst the playing group. Of the coaching group Jade Rawlings was a much loved figure. Plapp , Plunket and Ben Matthews also getting lots of love from the players. Max engaging with everyone. Love this club

Edited October 1, 2018 by Bates Mate

[Leoncelli_36 2,264]

2 hours ago, nosoupforme said:

If you ever wanted to here a speech from our best and fairest for 2018 in Max Gawn that was the one that will inspire our great club to even greater heights.   He is certainly an inspiration to the way  he feels about all of his 40 brothers. Melbourne through and through.

James  Harmes  finished 3rd and with no surprise to many of us. I believe he went up a notch this year and another step is not beyond him. He is a fair dinkum Melbourne boy and a credit to  his Family. 

I just want to thank Peter Jackson for steering our  great club  and making it for what it is today, Driving it towards being a power house in the years and beyond. You came at a critical time and you will leave us in a healthy state. your a Demon for life.

Heart and soul speech?

[Leoncelli_36 2,264]

44 minutes ago, Bates Mate said:

Just left the afterparty . BOG contenders. T Mac. Gus . Lever. And Clarry. All players in good spirits  levers dance moves are Mr bean like. Hogan amongst it . Jeffy was a bit of a lonely figure. Jones getting around to every group was great to see. Very interesting to see the different Clicks amongst the playing group. Of the coaching group Jade Rawlings was a much loved figure. Plapp , Plunket and Ben Matthews also getting lots of love from the players. Max engaging with everyone. Love this club

I was at the atrium bar and the only player to attend was Cam Pedersen 

[Mt. Dee-Maaan 607]

12 minutes ago, Leoncelli_36 said:

I was at the atrium bar and the only player to attend was Cam Pedersen 

the people's champion!

 

[Skuit 10,031]

On 9/30/2018 at 4:52 PM, Skuit said:

Jones, Lewis and Tmac will all poll in the top-ten with at least one in the top five. It's just how these things work. 

I'm available for TAB consulting on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by appointment. Reasonable rates. 

[Deemania since 56 6,609]

4 hours ago, nosoupforme said:

If you ever wanted to here a speech from our best and fairest for 2018 in Max Gawn that was the one that will inspire our great club to even greater heights.   He is certainly an inspiration to the way  he feels about all of his 40 brothers. Melbourne through and through.

James  Harmes  finished 3rd and with no surprise to many of us. I believe he went up a notch this year and another step is not beyond him. He is a fair dinkum Melbourne boy and a credit to  his Family. 

I just want to thank Peter Jackson for steering our  great club  and making it for what it is today, Driving it towards being a power house in the years and beyond. You came at a critical time and you will leave us in a healthy state. your a Demon for life.

So many things came together into the face of adversity for this Club, in 2018. It took classy leadership and the acceptance by merely a handful of the responsibilities involved in turning corners. By next year, that spirit will be more widespread as handrails upon which this gravy train carries the side to the GF. Well done Maxy and team.

[Deemania since 56 6,609]

5 hours ago, deanox said:

Harmes wasn't in the top 10 after round 16. 10th had 199 votes at that point,  and Jones who was 3rd had 321.

Harmes finished with 468 votes to Jones 449. 

That means he picked up at least 270 votes in the last 10 games (inc 3 finals), at 27 vpg, compared to a max of 198 from his first 16 games at 12.3 vpg.

We know he played well from round 17 when he took on a tagging role but that's a crazy turn around in numbers. 

Always thought that Harmes would bounce hard at his potential - and he's done it! Great effort.