The mighty Zebras missed out on achieving the 4peat but they still managed to celebrate season 2007 in style last night at the Bentleigh Club.

Peter Summers Peter Summers romped in the Neil Bencraft Best and Fairest voting by a huge margin over runner up Shane Valenti. Skipper Chad Liddell announced he would be stepping down from the captaincy and Valenti and Stefan Martin have been invited to do a preseason at Melbourne leading into the draft. Good luck to both boys!

Top votegetters:-

138 Peter Summers

94 Shane Valenti

80 David Gallagher

71 Rod Crowe

52 Ezra Poyas

46 Chris Lamb

32 Tom Paterakis

30 Ryan Ferguson Nick Sautner

29 Jace Bode Matthew Warnock

25 Chris Johnson

23 Ben Holland

22 Clint Bizzell

21 Lynden Dunn

19 Andy Biddlecombe Chad Liddell

17 Michael Newton

15 Simon Buckley

14 Paul Wheatley

13 Brad Miller Byron Pickett

12 Sam Monaghan

11 Guy Martin

8 Ricky Petterd Colin Sylvia

6 Colin Garland

5 Shane Neaves

4 Rennie Gilchrist

3 Marc Johnston Tomi Johnston Matthew Whelan

2 Nathan Brown

1 Guy Martyn Brent Moloney Daniel Ward

Other awards -

Leading Goalkicker – Nick Sautner (69)

Most Liston Votes – Shane Valenti (20 votes)

Team Involvement Award – Shane Valenti

Most Determined – Rod Crowe

Best 1st Year Player – Tomi Johnston

Most Courageous – David Gallagher

Coaches Award – Chris Lamb

Extra Mile Award – Peter Price

Best Clubman – Dave Burgin

Trevor Barker Special Achievement Award – Grahame Steele

Troy Broadbridge Memorial Trophy (most B & F votes MFC) – Ryan Ferguson

The Reserves Best and Fairest was shared by up and comers Rennie Gilchrist and Tom Paterakis while Marc Johnston and Sam Monaghan tied for runners up. Other awards -

Most Determined – Peter McGettigan

Team Involvement Award – Tom Dean

Coaches Award – Jake Williams

If Chad is going to step down then I think Chris Lamb is a pretty good bet for the captaincy.

yeah for sure

Is Martin big enough to play ruck in the AFL or would he be used as a key forward?

196cm is too short. plays better up forward

I'm interested in your thoughts on these two Barry... do you think either of them are up to AFL level, and do you think either of them will be drafted? We've heard lots of good things about Valenti, and some about Martin, what's your take on them both?

Stefan Martin has an uncanny ability to leap high off a short run.....only started playing football a couple of years ago apparently....

Valenti is a real go getter....IMHO is easily AFL material....Martin may need another year at VFL......but definitely worth a punt..excuse the pun

And my choice for captain at Sandy....Chris Lamb....trmendous guy who deserves the honour

Skipper Chad Liddell announced he would be stepping down from the captaincy

Is Chad Liddell just stepping down from the captaincy or is he leaving Sandringham altogether?

I heard he was the target of at least one Nepean League club who approached him to be their coach for 2008.

And my choice for captain at Sandy....Chris Lamb....trmendous guy who deserves the honour

That'd be a real fillip for a bloke that many bagged, but has a heart bigger than the MCG.

If Chad is going to step down then I think Chris Lamb is a pretty good bet for the captaincy.

Laaaaammbb.

I'd be stoked - he always seemed to come from the Guy Rigoni school of being more interested in giving to footy than taking.

And I have fond memories of watching him back when he looked so shy that you felt like going 'awwww' every time he punched the ball away.

Laaaaammbb.

I'd be stoked - he always seemed to come from the Guy Rigoni school of being more interested in giving to footy than taking.

And I have fond memories of watching him back when he looked so shy that you felt like going 'awwww' every time he punched the ball away.

give the captaincy to lamb-chop!

i cant see why we didnt persist with neaves and now ask martin to train, neaves was picked ahead of him at sandy. Hope we dont waste our time with him personally! But would like to see us try valenti!

martin can play ruck really well and go forward and kick bag of goals. Neaves couldn't even play forward for [censored].

martin can play ruck really well and go forward and kick bag of goals. Neaves couldn't even play forward for [censored].

Such in-depth analysis.

I'm interested in your thoughts on these two Barry... do you think either of them are up to AFL level, and do you think either of them will be drafted? We've heard lots of good things about Valenti, and some about Martin, what's your take on them both?

The first thing we have to remember when looking at both Martin and Valenti is that neither of them are your top tier recruits and they need to be considered not as you do with the top 50 selections in the National Draft (i.e. the first three rounds) but either as late draft picks or as pre season draft or rookie selections. You're therefore not comparing them with the top draft prospects but with a hundred or so hopefuls who are no certainties of ever playing at AFL level.

Valenti is a nuggetty 176cm rover who won the Fothergill-Round medal as the VFL’s rising star and he also finished second in the JJ Liston Trophy for the VFL's best and fairest in 2007. The critics say he is too small and too slow for the AFL but I seem to remember the same criticism levelled at Sam Mitchell when he was playing with the Box Hill Hawks after missing out on being drafted. He’s a definite goer and has a great work rate and I suppose his forthcoming month's stint with an AFL club will tell the tale.

Martin is 197cm tall and a late starter in the game. His raw and his kicking needs working on. I'm not certain whether he's capable of cutting it in the ruck at AFL level but he might fill the role of a tall marking forward. He still has a longw ay to go though.

martin can play ruck really well and go forward and kick bag of goals. Neaves couldn't even play forward for [censored].

I'm guessing you could then explain why he was dropped later in the season? Not sure if he can play ruck really well at AFL level, how many bags of goals did he kick?