In June 2016 the ORFFA set a new Australian rules record for the longest delay between the end of the home and away season and presenting the winner of the league’s best and fairest with his medal when Larrikin Lagoon Lefties ruckman Todd Goldstein was presented with his 2015 Les W Medal 10 months after the ORFFA season concluded. Amazingly within six months of this record being set the AFL broke it by presenting midfielders Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell with their 2012 Brownlow Medals in December 2016, 51 months after the conclusion of the 2012 AFL season. Seven months after the 2016 ORFFA home and away season concluded Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield has finally been presented with his 2016 Les W Medal on the eve of his 2017 season commencing. The ORFFA will be endeavouring to present the 2017 Les W Medallist with his medal in 2017 and maybe even within a month of the 2017 home and away season ending. Below is the official article from the ORFFA media department celebrating Dangerfield’s 2016 Les W Medal win. Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield wins the 2016 Les W Medal with record votes tally (Part 1) Explosive Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield won the 2016 Les W Medal in record breaking fashion, polling 50 votes to finish three votes ahead of Mount Beauty Uglies ruckman Max Gawn on 47 votes, with Devils captain Scott Pendlebury third on 42 votes. Dangerfield polled votes in 12 games comprised of six best afield performances, four votes on four occasions and two votes twice. Dangerfield’s victory was set up in a scintillating five round period from Round 10 to Round 14, polling 23 of a possible 25 votes during this period, four vote performances in Rounds 10 and 11, followed by three consecutive best afield games in Rounds 12, 13 and 14. During the 2016 home and away season Dangerfield led the ORFFA for inside 50’s, ranked second for total disposals, equal fourth for total clearances, seventh for kicks and eighth for handballs. In terms of winning the contested ball and then being able utilise his speed to burst away from the pack, create space for himself and provide drive for his team Dangerfield is unsurpassed in the ORFFA. At 189 centimetres tall and weighing 92 kilograms Dangerfield has a tremendous mix of strength, speed and ball-winning ability as well as being a good overhead mark and whilst he racks up the disposals, he is also damaging with ball in hand, creating space for himself and his team-mates, making him extremely difficult to tag due to being exceptional on both the inside and outside. Dangerfield was on the front page of the Les W Medal leaderboard throughout the 2016 count, after being joint or outright leader several times in the first eight rounds Dangerfield regained the lead for good in Round 11. Two Waikikamoocow players were joint leaders after Round 2 on 8 votes, midfielder Dan Hannebery and forward/midfielder Aaron Hall. In 2015 Hannebery led overall after Round 4 and went to be one of three Cows to finish in the top five along with fellow midfielder Nat Fyfe and ruckman Sam Jacobs. Aaron Hall on the other hand wasn’t even on an ORFFA list at the end of 2015 and was selected by the Cows with selection 14 at the 2016 ORFFA Pre-season draft. Hall continued his rich vein of form to poll four votes in Round 3 to be the joint leader alongside perennial Les W Medal vote-getter and winner of the inaugural Les W Medal in 2013 - the Little Master – Iron Knob midfielder Gary Ablett. With his second best afield performance in three Rounds Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield moved into third place on 10 votes. Ablett polled minor votes in Rounds 4 and 5 to be the outright leader after both rounds, increasing his tally to 15 votes, one ahead of Dangerfield and Venus Bay Vultures midfielder Luke Parker. Back to back best afield performances by Parker in Rounds 5 & 6 catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard on 19 votes, three votes ahead of Dangerfield with Ablett a further vote back. Dangerfield polled four votes in Round 7 to hit the outright lead for the first time in the count, on 20 votes one ahead of Parker. Dangerfield polled 2 votes in Round 8 to retain the outright lead, however after not polling in Round 9 he relinquished the lead to Hannebery who polled three votes to increase his tally to 24 votes, two ahead of Dangerfield, Parker and Cradle Mountain forward/midfielder Dayne Zorko. Hannebery polled 3 votes in Round 10 to retain the lead, however despite polling two votes in Round 11 to increase his tally to 29 votes he dropped to second place one vote behind Dangerfield who polled four votes in Round 10. Three consecutive best afield performances from Dangerfield in Rounds 12, 13 and 14 increased his tally to 45 votes and he was on the verge of having an insurmountable lead, being 12 votes ahead of Mount Beauty Uglies ruckman Max Gawn and Devils captain Pendlebury with three rounds remaining. Gawn and Pendlebury did their utmost to bridge the gap, each polling five votes in Round 15 and four votes in Round 16, however after not polling a vote in Round 15, Dangerfield polled five votes in Round 16 to put the result beyond doubt, having a tally of 50 votes, eight clear of the duo in second place with only one round remaining. With a best afield performance in Round 17 Gawn won the battle for second place, finishing on 47 votes, only three votes behind Dangerfield and five votes clear of Pendlebury. Dangerfield’s 50 votes for the season broke the record for most Les W Medal votes in a season set by Marble Bar Misfits midfielder Callan Ward with 48 in 2014. It was a meteoric rise from 2016 Les W Medal runner-up Max Gawn who only cemented a place in the Mount Beauty best 15 in the last six rounds of the 2015 season. In 2016 Gawn was the dominant ruckman in the ORFFA and one of only three players that aren’t midfielders along with Nunawading Nuffers defender Kade Simpson & Cradle Mountain forward/midfielder Dayne Zorko to finish in the top 10 of the LWM. Scott Pendelbury’s third placed finish equalled best result of his career in 2013 behind Ablett and Jobe Watson. Two club’s had two players in the top 10 – Cradle Mountain with Pendlebury and Zorko and the Nunawading Nuffers with Simpson and midfielder Josh Kennedy. Only two players finished in the top 10 in both 2015 and 2016 – Dangerfield and Hannebery who improved on his fifth place finish in 2015 to finish fourth in 2016. Other players finishing in the top 10 during 2016 were Wagga Wagga Wombats midfielder Bryce Gibbs, Wineglass Bay Packers midfielder Rory Sloane and 2014 Les W Medallist Marble Bar Misfits midfielder Callan Ward.
Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield wins the 2016 Les W Medal - 2016 best afield games & ORFFA history (Part 2) In Round 1 of the 2016 ORFFA season Dangerfield set the standard of what was to follow, setting a new career best for disposals in game with 43, comprised of 18 kicks and 25 handballs, he also had 21 contested possessions, 10 inside 50’s and seven clearances. One blemish in Dangerfield’s performance during the 237 point win against the Grasshoppers was his goal-kicking, going goalless and kicking three behinds, all in the last quarter. Dangerfield was nominated for mark of the week, in the last quarter getting tremendous elevation to get his knees to shoulder height of Gundagai debutant defender Jacob Weitering and took a spectacular overhead mark 15 metres out from the Chickens goal. Dangerfield looked a class above the other 29 players in the game scoring 162 points, 44 points more than the second ranked player for the game, Shane Biggs who was making his club debut for Foul Bay after being selected with pick 43 at the 2016 Pre-season draft. Dangerfield’s goal-kicking was far better in his second vote-getting game, kicking three goals and one behind against the Marble Bar Misfits in a 575 point Round 3 win at home – 1,631 to 1,056. Dangerfield received the five Les W Medal votes with a score of 166 points, having 13 kicks, 13 handballs, six inside 50’s, five clearances, 17 contested possessions and a goal assist. In the final round before the mid-season break, Round 12, the most dominant player of the year, Dangerfield delivered the most dominant individual game of the season scoring 229 supercoach points in the Chickens 281 point win against the Venus Bay Vultures. The second ranked player for the game, Chickens team-mate Bernie Vince scored 145 points which is normally enough to earn the five votes, however on this occasion it was only 63.3% of Dangerfield’s cricket score. Dangerfield amassed 27 kicks, 21 handballs, 11 inside 50’s, 13 clearances, 23 contested possessions, three contested marks, 1,022 metres gained and kicked two goals. Although Dangerfield was a ball magnet personified during the game and consistently won the ball under pressure he remained damaging with his ball-use throughout the night, having a superb disposal efficiency of 83.3%. Dangerfield’s brute force and superb finishing were on show with a minute and 30 seconds remaining in the first term, winning the ball from a contest, breaking a tackle and after taking just two steps kicking a goal from just outside 50 metres. In the first game after the mid-season break Dangerfield was best afield, the first time for the season that he had recorded back to back five vote performances. In Round 13 Patrick had 34 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 10 inside 50s, seven clearances and 19 uncontested possession in the Chickens 150 point loss to Iron Knob. In a 187 point win against the Nuffers in Round 14 Dangerfield kicked a season-high four goals and had an equal game-high 31 disposals, 15 contested possessions, and eight inside 50’s to earn the five votes for the third consecutive game. For the third time in 2016 Dangerfield kicked at least three goals and had more than 25 disposals in Round 16, having 21 kicks, 12 handballs and kicking three goals in the 39 point win against the Whitsunday Warriors. Dangerfield also had 10 inside 50’s, six clearances and 17 contested possessions in the game that he wrapped up the 2016 Les W Medal. During Dangerfield’s phenomenal 2016 season he played all 18 games for Foul Bay including one final, despite playing a contested brand of football he has been extremely durable and hasn’t missed a game since late in the 2013 home and away season, - missing Rounds 14 and 15 of that season due to a shoulder injury. In 2016 Dangerfield averaged 84% game-time, 16.0 kicks, 15.2 handballs, 5.4 marks, 4.6 tackles and 1.0 goals per game with a disposal efficiency of 68.9% had a career-best season for disposals, kicks, handballs, marks, inside 50s, uncontested possessions and goal assists. Dangerfield has been one of the ORFFA’s best players during its five year history, averaging at least 119 points per game in three of his five seasons, his lowest average for a season was 105 as a midfielder/forward in 2014. In each of his five seasons Dangerfield has ranked in the top eight for his position, including three seasons ranked in the top two. Below is a table with Dangerfield’s average, position and position rank for the first five ORFFA seasons. In 2012 and 2014 the rank is for the lowest scoring position that Patrick was eligible to play in being forward. Year Average Position Position Rank 2012 119 Midfielder/forward Second 2013 113 Midfielder Eighth 2014 105 Midfielder/forward Fifth 2015 119 Midfielder Second 2016 132 Midfielder First If you were ranking the inaugural ORFFA draft class retrospectively Dangerfield would be a certain Round 1 selection, however he was selected much later this, being selected by the Foul Bay Chickens early in the FIFTH round with pick 76. In three full seasons playing for the Adelaide Crows in the AFL from 2009 to 2011 Dangerfield had displayed immense potential both in terms of his ability to win the hard-ball and his explosive speed. Amazingly in his first three years at the Crows Dangerfield led the club for hard-ball gets, ahead of experienced hard-bodied midfielders such as Scott Thompson. However in each these three seasons Dangerfield hadn’t averaged more than 80 supercoach points per game, resulting in ORFFA Club’s and their recruiting departments having some doubts on whether his potential to be elite on both the inside and outside would be realised and translate to supercoach points production. During four practice matches in the lead-up to the inaugural ORFFA draft Dangerfield was in the best form of his career to that stage – averaging 94 points per game as a midfielder/forward and turned 22 years old during this practice match period. From the moment Dangerfield made his ORFFA debut for the Chickens he elevated his game to a new stratosphere, scoring 174 points in the inaugural round of the ORFFA, having 23 kicks, 12 handballs, eight clearances, 19 contested possessions, two goal assists and kicked two goals. The Foul Bay Chickens have had magnificent value from their selection of Dangerfield in the fifth round of the 2012 ORFFA draft with him playing a pivotal role in the Chickens being one of the benchmark team’s in the ORFFA, and the first club in the league to win back to back premierships, with the club winning the league’s first two flags in 2012 and 2013. During the first five seasons of the ORFFA the Foul Bay Chickens have won more games than any other club and have finished in the top three teams on the ladder every season including three minor premierships, 2012, 2015 & 2016. In three of his five seasons Dangerfield has played as a pure midfielder and in each of these seasons he has formed arguably the best midfield one-two punch in the ORFFA with his captain Joel Selwood. In 2013 and 2016 Selwood and Dangerfield both ranked in the top seven of the ORFFA for Supercoach points per game, in 2013 Selwood was the third ranked midfielder in the ORFFA for SC points per game behind Ablett and Pendlebury and Dangerfield was the seventh ranked pure midfielder. In 2015 Dangerfield surpassed Selwood to become Foul Bay’s best midfielder, winning his first best and fairest award and averaged 119 supercoach points per game, ranked third in the league behind ruckman Goldstein and midfielder Fyfe. During his 18 ORFFA games for Foul Bay in 2016 Dangerfield averaged 129 supercoach points per game, ranked a clear number 1 in the league, 10 points ahead of Les W Medal place getters Gawn and Pendlebury, Selwood was the seventh ranked midfielder in the league
Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Patrick Dangerfield wins the 2016 Les W Medal - game-style dissection & conclusion (Part 3) In his fifth ORFFA season 26 year-old Dangerfield won his second consecutive Foul Bay chickens best and fairest in 2016, polling 40 votes to finish ahead of Selwood and Heath Shaw who polled 24 votes and 23 votes respectively. In Dangerfield’s 2017 ORFFA* Prospectus player profile it said “How good was Dangerfield’s season? He became the first player to average at least 30 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, four clearances, one goal and one score assist per game, whilst also breaking the season record for metres gained per game.”1 The 2017 ORFFA* Prospectus also included a three page article on their Player of the Year – Patrick Dangerfield which dissected Dangerfield’s game. Dangerfield’s development from being one of the top handful of players in the ORFFA to the league’s best player in 2016 was driven by his improvement in winning uncontested possessions. The Dangerfield 2017 ORFFA Prospectus POTY article said “His 16.1 uncontested possessions per game were ranked 49th, his first time in the competition’s top-150 and 36% more than any of his previous seasons.”2 In all five seasons in the ORFFA from 2012 to 2016 Dangerfield has been ranked in the top six of the ORFFA for contested possessions including being ranked fourth in this category in 2016. Although Dangerfield significantly improved his ability to win uncontested possessions during 2016 this improvement was not at the expense of winning uncontested possessions. “It’s not only at stoppages that Dangerfield dominates, ranking No. 1 of midfielders for contested possessions in general play.”3 With ball in hand Dangerfield’s style was playing direct football and kicking long. “He gained 37.4 metres per kick – the fourth-most of any player in the competition – and overall he gained 620 metres per game – ranked No. 1 in the ORFFA* and more than 50% higher than any other player in the top-10 for contested possessions.”4 After ranking in the top eight in the ORFFA for his position from 2012 to 2015 Dangerfield elevated his game to an even higher level in 2016 to win the Les W Medal with 50 votes – the highest tally in the award’s four year history. Dangerfield’s strengths were his ability to win contested possessions, use his power and speed to create space for himself and his team-mates and make an impact on the scoreboard, whether kicking goals himself or delivering the ball inside 50 to a team-mate. Having a unique skill-set that makes him very difficult to curtail and delivering extremely consistent football for the past five years 26 year-old Patrick Dangerfield is ideally placed to challenge for more individual awards and perform a pivotal role in Foul Bay’s ORFFA premiership quest for several more years. 1 Champion Data, ORFFA* Prospectus – the essential number-cruncher for season 2017, 12th Edition, page 156 2 Champion Data, ORFFA* Prospectus – the essential number-cruncher for season 2017, 12th Edition, page 5 3 Champion Data, ORFFA* Prospectus – the essential number-cruncher for season 2017, 12th Edition, page 5 4 Champion Data, ORFFA* Prospectus – the essential number-cruncher for season 2017, 12th Edition, page 5 AFL*
Great in-depth assessment of a dominant performance Dean, will be interesting to see what happens this year with Fyfe back, tonight an insight.
Well worth the wait Dean - a terrific bed time read. In a blinkered approach I mentally substitute Fyfe, Fremantle, or Waikickamoocow Incorrigibles every time I read Dangerfield, Geelong, or Foul Bay Chickens. This approach enables me to smile about the 2016 Les W and also sleep better.
Thanks for the positive comments on the Dangerfield 2016 Les W Medal article. Fyfe's 2015 and Dangerfield's 2016 seasons were both exceptional and had many similarities so for most of the references to Dangerfield, Geelong, or Foul Bay Chickens, Graham substituting Fyfe, Fremantle, or Waikickamoocow Incorrigibles works very well, there is one major exception however - durability. From 2011 to 2016 Dangerfield played 136 games and more than 20 games in every season whereas Fyfe played 99 games in total and twice missed more than half a season - 2012 & 2016. It was interesting that neither Mark Robinson or Mike Sheahan had Dangerfield at number 1 in their 2017 pre-season top 50's. Sheahan had Buddy at number 1 due to his best being better than anyone else at their best and Robinson had Fyfe just ahead of Dangerfield due to being a slightly better mark in the forward line. Personally I would have Dangerfield as my clear number 1 with his exceptional durability giving him a major advantage over Fyfe in this category. Below is a link to the Dangerfield article published on Milestones and misses: https://milestonesandmisses.com/201...rownlow-medal/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true The quality of the Dangerfield photos are poor so I didn't worry about posting them with the Les W Medal article. I will be able to include much higher quality photos of the 2016 ORFFA Rising Star medal when I post that article. @graeme if you want to read specifically about Fyfe, it is pretty simple - all he needs to do is win the 2017 Les W Medal. Alternatively, I plan on publishing an article on the 2017 Brownlow Medal winner on https://milestonesandmisses.com/ so winning that medal would also suffice. If Fyfe doesn't win one or both of these medals in 2017 hopefully I still publish an article on him at some stage.
No worries at all Dean. I enjoy watching Dangerfield play, but I love watching Fyfe play. And not just because he is a Cow. I think he plays with more freedom than Dangerfield; perhaps he takes more risks and tries and the more outrageous. Or perhaps he is less conservative. One old bloke's opinion. One of the great memories of the 2015 season was Freo's friday night trip to play the Crows. The night their coaches let Danger anf Fyfe go head to head. What a spectacle. Fantastic. Footy was the clear winner. CR and I both remember the evening for another reason - the Cows and the Chooks were also head to head and our main men were centre stage. If I remember correctly, Dangerfield scored more SC points, but Fyfe got the three Brownlow votes. Which brings me to the central point. I love footy - even though I am a New Zealander, I would rather watch a good AFL game than watch the All Blacks. You can imagine that is not a popular position in the shakey isles. However, if there is one curse on afl it is that many "fans" seem to rate players based on their SC scores. Further, a played sucks because he plays well but is not in their SC team. The tail is wagging the dog. Fantasy games are an interesting adjunct / complement to footy. They are not a replacement. Touch wood ORFFANs have a balanced view on this - something that seems to be missing at times on other fantasy game sites. Rant over. Keep up the good work Dean. I love the review articles.
Extended 2016 Les W Medal overall leaderboard Attached is the extended 2016 Les W Medal overall leaderboard which includes the 228 players that received at least one Les W Medal vote, which equates to an average of 12.67 players per club and represents 45.2% of the players on ORFFA lists. I have included the ORFFA club for the top 95 players and had included the playing position for the top 95 players, however had trouble saving the spreadsheet, so some of these positons are missing. I will revisit the spreadsheet later in the week and try to add in leaderboards for each position but outside business hours over the next few days my priority is an article celebrating Jarryn Geary's 150th AFL game next weekend.