Morrish Medal | |
---|---|
Awarded for | The best and fairest player in the Talent League Boys |
Country | Australia |
Presented by | Australian Football League |
First awarded | 1947 |
Currently held by | Patrick Hughes Colby McKercher |
Website | Morrish Medal |
The Morrish Medal is an award presented to the best and fairest player in the premier Victorian underage Australian rules football competition during the home-and-away season. Boasting an uninterrupted lineage from 1947 onwards, the medal is currently awarded to the highest vote-getter in the Talent League Boys competition.
History
[edit]The Morrish Medal was first inaugurated in 1947, the year after the formation of the Victorian Football League's thirds competition.[1] Named in honour of reserve grade treasurer Tom Morrish, who had held the position since 1922, the medal was to be awarded to the best-performing player across the season as adjudged by the field umpires.[2] This continued throughout the history of the League's thirds, which was renamed to the under-19s in 1960. When the under-19s competition was wound up at the conclusion of the 1991 Australian Football League season, to be replaced by the new Victorian State Football League under-18s competition, the decision was made to continue awarding the Morrish Medal.
Voting format
[edit]In the style of the Brownlow Medal and Gardiner Medal medals already awarded in the seniors and seconds competitions respectively, the presiding field umpire would cast a 3–2–1 vote at the conclusion of each match. The player with the most votes tallied following the end of the home-and-away season would then be presented with the medal. The initial voting method continues to this day, albeit with multiple field umpires now conferring to present a single set of votes for each match.
Until 1981, a count back rule identical to that of the Brownlow was used to split winners based on the amount of three-vote games they were awarded, followed by two-vote games, etc. until a solitary winner could be found.[3] In 1992, the League recognised three players who initially lost by count back – Jim McGowan (1961), Phillip Friedman (1974) and Jack Dinatale (1976) – and awarded them retrospective medals.[4]
Winners by season
[edit]- ^ a b c Medal was awarded retrospectively, as a countback rule was applied until 1980.
- ^ a b Medal was adjudged a tie and shared between both players as they could not be split by the countback rule.
- ^ Medal was initially adjudged a tie and shared between Bruerton and Dinatale as they could not be split by the countback rule.
Ineligible players who polled more votes than winner
[edit]A player guilty of an offence deemed worthy of a suspension is ineligible to win the Morrish Medal.
Player | Club | Year | Votes | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
Daryl Vernon | Richmond | 1978 | 19 | Suspended; would have been joint winner with McPhie and Simpson, as the trio could not be separated by the countback rule. |
Brad Chapman | Fitzroy | 1990 | 20 | Suspended; would have won outright, beating Robertson and Watson by six votes. |
Domenic Berry | Hawthorn | 15 | Polled second-highest number of votes and would have won had he not been suspended.[32] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "AFL Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Australian Football League. 2008. p. 121. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Morrish Medal". AFL.com.au. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ Grant, Trevor (10 September 1981). "Joint medal". The Age. p. 32.
- ^ Crisp, Penny (14 April 1992). "League cool towards coaches' plea on team changes". The Age. p. 36.
- ^ "Answers To Correspondents". Football Record. 28 August 1948. p. 18. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "Alford Wins Seconds' Award". The Age. 30 August 1950. p. 24. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Hawthorn's medal win". The Herald. 22 August 1951. p. 12. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Brown, Alf (20 August 1952). "Best In Thirds". The Herald. p. 18. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "'Best' medal goes to Dick Pratt". The Argus. 19 August 1953. p. 21. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Brown, Alf (18 August 1954). "Medal won by Blues' rover". The Herald. p. 28. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Morrish Medal to Rasmussen". The Age. 8 August 1956. p. 18.
- ^ "North Player Takes Award". The Age. 13 August 1958. p. 20.
- ^ "Fitzroy Player Best in Thirds". The Age. 19 August 1959. p. 22.
- ^ "Morrish Medal to Johnston". The Age. 23 August 1961. p. 18.
- ^ "Arnold Best in Reserves". The Age. 26 August 1964. p. 24.
- ^ "Whiskers come before football". Sydney Morning Herald. 21 April 1969. p. 112.
- ^ "Fitzroy rover tops poll". The Age. 31 August 1966. p. 18.
- ^ "Demon wins U.19 award". The Age. 3 September 1968. p. 24.
- ^ "Morrish Medal to Gehling". The Age. 3 September 1969. p. 26.
- ^ Carter, Ron (1 September 1970). "Peter Bedford's Brownlow". The Age. p. 32.
- ^ Fiddian, Marc (23 June 1979). "Boldness wins the Jones boy". The Age. p. 29.
- ^ "Two medals". The Age. 4 September 1980. p. 32.
- ^ "Gardiner to Tiger". The Age. 1 September 1981. p. 38.
- ^ Carman, Gerry (2 September 1982). "Gardiner to Bomber". The Age. p. 28.
- ^ Linnell, Garry (26 September 1983). "Demons top Under 19s". The Age. p. 25.
- ^ "Bulldog wins Gardiner". The Age. 4 September 1984. p. 44.
- ^ "Hawks share medal". The Age. 3 September 1985. p. 55.
- ^ "Bulldog rover Liberatore wins Gardiner Medal". The Age. 2 September 1986. p. 46.
- ^ "Morrish to Kangaroo". Football Record. 5 September 1987. p. 5.
- ^ Linnell, Garry; Connolly, Rohan (31 August 1988). "Friday is D-day for injured Magpies". The Age. p. 41.
- ^ "Morrish". Football Record. 9 September 1989. p. 5.
- ^ a b c Johnston, Nicholas (6 September 1990). "Stretch setback worries Demons". The Age. p. 28.
- ^ Kogoy, Peter (29 September 1991). "Roos triumph in swansong". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 61.
- ^ Browne, Ashley (2 September 1992). "Northern back takes Morrish Medal". The Age. p. 28.
- ^ Linnell, Garry; Linnell, Stephen (1 September 1993). "Brewery courts second club". The Age. p. 30.
- ^ "Gary wins Morrish Medal". Football Record. 10 September 1994. p. 60.
- ^ "Falcon runaway Morrish winner". Football Record. 8 September 1995. p. 60.
- ^ Dunn, Adrian (4 September 1996). "Another golden star". Herald Sun. p. 69.
- ^ Bresnehan, James (4 September 1997). "Perfect player: Mariner centreman simply has all the answers". The Mercury. p. 42.
- ^ Ryan, Melissa (6 September 1998). "Medal win surprises young Ram". The Age. p. 32.
- ^ Ryan, Melissa (1 September 1999). "Gippsland rover wins Morrish". The Age. p. 54.
- ^ Warner, Michael (9 August 2000). "Fijian snares Morrish prize". Herald Sun. p. 81.
- ^ Barry, Evonne (22 September 2001). "Morrish medallist repeats feat". Herald Sun. p. 86.
- ^ Stockdale, David (16 September 2002). "Mariner claims Morrish Medal". The Mercury. p. 37.
- ^ West, Luke (9 September 2003). "Sylvia lining to medal". Bendigo Advertiser.
- ^ Power, Emily (7 September 2004). "Medal win just the draft Bate". Herald Sun. p. 103.
- ^ Williams, Rebecca (6 September 2005). "Tiny gun's medal". Herald Sun. p. 91.
- ^ Quayle, Emma (12 September 2006). "Un-Fortunato Caruso, the short bloke ignored by AFL". The Age. p. 4.
- ^ Quayle, Emma; Walker, Chris (11 September 2007). "Kreuzer stands tall to win Morrish Medal". The Age. p. 5.
- ^ Harris, Amelia (15 September 2008). "Heavenly Sunday for young Priest". Herald Sun. p. 53.
- ^ Jolly, Laura (23 September 2009). "Woods claims 2009 medal". Whittlesea Leader. p. 46.
- ^ Jolly, Laura (13 September 2010). "Umps unable to split this year's Morrish Medal winners". Melbourne Yarra Leader. p. 28.
- ^ McGrath, Brad (14 September 2011). "Stingrays' Benbow wins TAC Cup prize". Peninsula Weekly. Metro Media Publishing. p. 44.
- ^ Diamond, Brent (10 September 2012). "Gippsland's Graham takes medal: Football". The Age. p. 13.
- ^ Wade, Nick (10 September 2013). "By George I've won it". Geelong Advertiser. p. 36.
- ^ Twomey, Callum (8 September 2014). "Carr powers home to win Morrish Medal in TAC Cup". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Twomey, Callum (13 September 2015). "Draft bolter Clayton Oliver clinches Morrish Medal". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Twomey, Callum (5 September 2016). "Draft prospect McCluggage wins Morrish Medal". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Olle, Sarah (4 September 2017). "Oakleigh Chargers Jack Higgins firms 2017 draft credentials with Morrish Medal". Fox Sports (Australia). Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Balmer, Matt (2 September 2018). "AFL Draft 2018: Sandringham Dragons' Liam Stocker boosts first round credentials with TAC Cup Morrish Medal". Fox Sports (Australia). Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Balmer, Matt (25 August 2019). "AFL Draft 2019: Western Jets' Lucas Rocci becomes club's first ever Morrish Medal winner". Fox Sports (Australia). Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Twomey, Callum (4 August 2020). "AFL cancels NAB League for 2020". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Rhodes, Brendan (30 September 2021). "It's a tie: Morrish Medal drama as future stars light up NAB League awards". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Cowan, Campbell-Farrell tie for Morrish Medal; Ashcroft named NAB League Boys Team of the Year captain". AFL.com.au. 7 September 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "McKercher and Hughes share Morrish Medal, Howley claims Girls B&F". AFL.com.au. 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.