GROGAN MEDAL
Courageous and skilful Morningside midfield utility Nathan Kinch has won the 2008 Grogan Medal for the best player in the AFLQ Velocity Sports Cup State League competition.
Kinch went vote-for-vote with pre-count favourite Matthew Payne all night before reaching an unassailable lead at the conclusion of Round 18, ironically in a big win over Payneâs Zillmere Eagles.
The 21-year-old polled 25 votes to beat Payne (21), Southportâs Daniel Wise (21) and Mt Gravatt young gun Rohan Bail (19).
Kinch and Payne polled three votes each in the opening round of the season and tracked each other for the next 17 weeks.
There were seven lead changes between the pair and four times they were tied.
Payne regained the lead by one vote in Round 15 after a best afield performance at Labrador, neither of their leaders gained a vote in Round 16, then Kinch finished the season 3-2-2 in the final three matches.
He polled in 11 matches to Payneâs 10.
A homegrown product of the Morningside junior system, the diminutive Kinch has blossomed markedly over the past two seasons.
Never having played rep football as a junior, he was outstanding out of a back pocket in 2007, and graduated to a mostly midfield role in 2008 following the departure of gun rover Justin Wilson.
Having made the Queensland Under 21 side in 2007, Kinch was so good in the early part of this season that he earned a berth in the fully fledged Queensland v WA game in Townsville in June.
Payneâs status as one of the best players outside the AFL system continues to grow, having finished first-second-second in the Grogan over the last three years and not missed a game in that time.
Wise appeared to be a threat when he moved to within three votes of the lead after gaining the three-vote in the Round 15 win over Morningside, but only polled a solitary vote in the next month before finishing with two best afields in the last two rounds.
Wise finished with six best afield three-votes, the same number as Kinch.
Bail, 20, has attracted the interest of AFL recruiting scouts with his scintillating form after a solid showing for Queensland in the interstate clash with WA, which was reflected in the voting.
He polled in five successive games from Round 10 to move to within one vote of the lead at Round 14, only to be overlooked over the next month. He polled the top vote in the final round win over Zillmere, but was still six votes adrift of the winner.
Another youngster, 19-year-old Dayne Zorko, finished fifth with 17 votes and was left to rue a slow finish to the year.
Zorko too tasted State open football for the Maroons against WA and was just two votes from the lead at Round 13 after earning the two-vote in a loss to Mt Gravatt. He did not poll again until getting two votes in the last round win over Labrador.
Suncoast midfielder Albert Proud finished sixth and was the only other player in double figures with 14 votes.
Proud polled in six of seven games from Round 4 but was never seriously in contention, especially with his call up to the Brisbane Lions side later in the season.
There were several surprises, with Syd Guildford Trophy winner David James polling in just three games for eight votes.
Mt Gravattâs prolific ballwinner Rory Lake, who led the Guildford Trophy midway through the season, landed just four votes from the umpires.
Labrador ruckman Trent Knobelâs strong start to the season went unnoticed and he got his four votes in the last month of the season. Similarly teammate Aaron Shattock received just the one three-vote.
The key position players were the ones harshest done by, with brilliant Broadbeach full-back Wade Dickson polling just one vote and gun Morningside centre-half-forward Kent Abey polled in just four games for nine votes.
Clever Zillmere midfielder-forward Jake Myles only got two votes, despite three games where he kicked six goals or more and several others where he was prolific in the midfield.
Top 11 placegetters:
25: Nathan Kinch (Morningside)
21: Matthew Payne (Zillmere)
21: Daniel Wise (Southport)
19: Rohan Bail (Mt Gravatt)
17: Dayne Zorko (Broadbeach)
14: Albert Proud (Suncoast)
9: Kent Abey (Morningside)
9: Scott Harding (Suncoast)
9: Austin Lucy (Zillmere)
9: Darren OâBrien (Southport)
9: Brett Sinclair (Southport)
SYD GUILDFORD TROPHY
Champion Southport wingman David James has won the Syd Guildford Trophy for the second time in four years in a cliff-hanger finish.
Jamesâ best-on-ground performance in the final round win over Morningside secured him five votes and saw him surge in front of Zillmereâs Matthew Payne and Mt Gravattâs Rohan Bail into first place.
James started the final round level with Payne on 31 votes, with Bail two behind on 29. He finished with 36 to head Payne (32) and Bail (31).
In fact, James polled 10 votes in the last two games to leap from third place into the lead.
James and Payne polled in nine of the 19 games during the season, while Bail polled on 10 occasions. James polled five best afield votes, Payne four and Bail only two.
Grogan Medallist Nathan Kinch finished in equal fourth place with 26 votes alongside his Panthers skipper David Lillico.
Remarkably, Lillico polled in just six games, but never less than a four-vote.
Lillico finished fourth in last yearâs voting, while Tom Tarrant is the only other member of the top 10 from last year to repeat, finishing equal 10th in 2008 after a fourth placing last season.
Top 11 placegetters:
36: David James (Southport)
32: Matthew Payne (Zillmere)
31: Rohan Bail (Mt Gravatt)
26: David Lillico (Morningside)
26: Nathan Kinch (Morningside)
25: Rory Lake (Mt Gravatt)
24: Albert Proud (Suncoast Lions)
24: Scott Clouston (Suncoast Lions)
23: Wade Dickson (Broadbeach)
22: Jake Myles (Zillmere)
22: Tom Tarrant (Mt Gravatt)
Last Modified on 17/04/2009 10:15