One-time runner-up Sammy Baker and previously ineligible highest votegetter Ben Fennell have tied for the Les Ash Medal in a dramatic count at Buckleys tonight (Wednesday).
A 16-possession, 14-tackle performance was enough for Baker to poll three votes in Barwon Heads’ final-round win over Drysdale to join the star Hawk on 18 votes.
Fennell, who polled the most votes in 2023, but was unable to take home the award after accepting a reprimand late in the season, was a late withdrawal from the meeting with the Seagulls after a knock to the throat the previous week.
There were four live chances to win the Ash Medal heading into Round 18.
Baker’s Barwon Heads teammate, and 2023 winner, Luke Davis – who had stormed into contention with 13 votes in the second half of the season, including three consecutive best-on-ground performances between rounds 15 and 17- trailed Fennell by one vote.
Four-time winner James Darke had a chance to tie proceedings, sitting on 15 votes, of which 11 came in the second half of the season.
However, neither Davis nor Darke added to their tallies and finished third and fourth, respectively.
Anglesea spearhead Ayden Gras and Geelong Amateur ball magnet Blake Sutterby shared fifth spot.
League-leading goalkicker Mitch Day joined Gras and Sutterby on 15 votes, but was ineligible to add a second Ash Medal to his collection ten years after claiming his first due to a mid-season suspension.
When voting went ‘live’ after Round 9, Fennell had 11 votes to his name, including consecutive best-on-ground performances against Torquay and Ocean Grove in rounds 8 and 9, respectively.
Newcomb ruck Jarrod Stafford joined Fennell at the top of the leaderboard to give rise to hope the Power would have its first medallist since Ricky O’Toole in 2007.
Baker was next best on 10 votes, along with Gras, who had 45 goals at the season’s halfway point.
As Newcomb’s season fizzled out after a hot start, so did Stafford’s vote-catching, attracting only two more votes for the season to finish in a tie for eighth.
Fennell moved to a four-vote lead with four rounds remaining after three-vote efforts in rounds 11 and 14, with Baker staying within striking distance with three votes in Round 14.
The Hawk only polled one more vote for the night (Round 17 vs. Portarlington), bringing his total to 18 votes, as Davis became a threat, moving to 17 votes with one round remaining.
Baker also polled in Round 17, getting the two votes as the Seagulls took care of Modewarre.
It set the scene for an intriguing final round, with the Seagulls’ table erupting when AFL Barwon football boss Michael Limb, in his final call of Ash Medal votes, said, “Theree votes. Barwon Heads. Sammy Baker”.
Baker, overlooked for Team of the Year honours, became the eighth Seagull to win the award, joining Davis, Mat Dyer, Mark Hildebrandt, Geoff Taylor, Matt Walter, Dennis Johnson, and Geoff Fry.
No club has as many winners of the Ash Medal as the Seagulls.
Fennell is the first Hawk since Simon Nelis in 2004 to claim the Bellarine’s highest individual honour.
He joins Nelis, Chris Taylor and Greg Scott as winners of the award.
Both players joined the competition in 2022 – Baker from Mooralbark in the Eastern League, and Fennell, who had VFL experience with Essendon, from Greensborough in the Northern League.
Earlier in the night, Fennell was named the inaugural Coaches’ Player of the Year and Hawks teammate recruit Lachie Nelis was named the BFNL’s Rising Star after an outstanding first season following his move from GFNL club Leopold.
The night was also highlighted by the honouring of two greats of the competition.
Steve Piec, the competition’s first star full-forward, and known to all in the Bellarine sporting community as ‘Chooka’, has had the senior goalkicking medal named after him.
And recently retired Modewarre legend Josh Finch, who won the Les Ash Medal on four occasions, has been immortalised with the naming of the senior grand final best-on-ground in his honour.
X: @krockfootball
CLUB BY CLUB VOTES
ANGLESEA
Ayden Gras 14
Lachlan Smith 13
Dale Kerr 7
Jordan Keras 5
Will Batson 3
Noah McGregor-Dawson 3
Max Virgona 3
Harrison Ling 2
Jai Anderson 1
James Carr 1
Tevan Nofi 1
BARWON HEADS
Sammy Baker 18
Luke Davis 17
Damian McMahon 13
Tom Baker 4
Mitchell Herbison 3
Zach Walter 3
Darcy Griffin 2
James Syddall 2
Jake Whybrow 2
Sam Witherden 1
Noah Young 1
DRYSDALE
Ben Fennell 18
Luke Preece 11
Matthew Pigott 8
Tom Ruggles 8
James Breust 5
Bailey Sykes 3
Flynn Chirgwin 2
Lauchlan Dalgleish 2
Jake Hargreaves 2
Jack Jenkins 2
Mitchell McGuire 2
Lachlan Nelis 2
Ben Henderson 1
GEELONG AMATEUR
Mitchell Day 14
Blake Sutterby 14
Hamish Shepheard 10
Sam Lloyd 9
Riley Ferguson 8
Luke Hillier 6
Charley Green 3
Harry Kershaw 3
Daniel Weigl 3
Tom Gribble 2
Tom Zeitz 2
Tom Gorell 1
Joe Maishman 1
Nick Maishman 1
Jai Sheahan 1
MODEWARRE
Matty McKim 10
Tom Hornsey 7
Morgan Fenton 6
Callan Farrell 5
Joshua Finch 4
Zack May 4
Scott Morter 3
Oscar Cooke 2
Patrick Fitzgerald 2
Damon Hemphill 2
Oscar Hocking 2
Ryan Williams 1
NEWCOMB
Jarrod Stafford 13
Joshua Saltalamacchia 5
Finn Anscombe 2
Jack Duke 2
Jarrad Duncan 2
Dion Johnstone 2
Blake Ritchie 1
Jacob Watson 1
Thomas Webster 1
OCEAN GROVE
Jamison Hallam 4
Jye Walker 4
Kye Annand 3
Joe Pierce 3
Gus Bourke 2
Jai Hale 2
Taj Wyburd 2
Joshua Lange 1
Joseph McDonald 1
Tyson Ruck 1
PORTARLINGTON
Scott Greenhough 12
Teia Miles 7
Riley Hayden 3
Jesse Hunter 3
Jack Dorgan 2
James Goetz 2
Stephen Heppel 2
Caleb Kennedy 2
Connor Menadue 2
Kelly Pickard 2
Lachlan Hart 1
Max Ruiter 1
QUEENSCLIFF
Sol Bowtell 13
Lachie Kidd 12
Joseph Cincotta 8
Che Durran 7
Izaac Grant 6
Jayden McHenry 5
Will Baker 4
Jordy McIvor-Clark 3
Harry Gower 2
Kai Keenan 2
Caleb Whitley 2
Jasper Blair 1
Patrick Bradley 1
TORQUAY
James Darke 15
Matthew Boag 11
Oliver Tate 8
Charlie Ham 6
Ben McNamara 6
Banjo Dyer 4
William Montebello 4
Angus Hanley 3
Paddy Hughes 3
Nathan Mifsud 3
Tynan Smith 3
Mackenzie Burns 2
Cooper Heard 2
Oscar Lewis 2
