2017 Les W Medal

2017 Les W Medal

Update after Round 4

2016 Les W medallist Patrick Dangerfield started the 2017 season in dominant fashion to poll nine votes in the first two rounds comprised of five votes in Round 1 and four votes in Round 2. Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Dangerfield was a joint leader after Round 2, with Nunawading Nuffers midfielder Brad Ebert joining him on nine votes, having been best afield in Round 2. Dangerfield polled three votes in Round 3 to retain a share of the lead with two other midfielders on 12 votes, Ollie Wines from the Whitsunday Warriors and new Marble Bar Misfits recruit Marc Murphy, with 21 year old Charlies Opening Spelunkers midfielder Marcus Bontempelli in fourth position on 11 votes.

Bontempelli polled four votes in Round 4 to take his tally to 15 votes and the outright lead. After Round 4 of the 2017 season three votes separate the top seven players on the Les W Medal leader-board with Bontempelli leading a host of fellow midfielders led by Marc Murphy on 14 votes and three other pure midfielders on 13 votes, Lovely Bank Lilac Mitch Duncan, Gariwerd Cockattoos off-season trade acquisition Brendon Goddard and Rory Sloane from the Wineglass Bay Packers. Dangerfield and Ollie Wines are in equal sixth position on 12 votes.

The top 10 on the Les W Medal leader-board after Round 4 is provided at:

http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagues.php?leagueId=2&round=4#ymme1hFlULMbsK44.97

Player in focus – Marcus Bontempelli, midfielder for Charlies Opening Spelunkers

Expectations of Bontempelli were high when he was selected with pick 15 at the 2014 PSD and during his first three and a bit seasons in the ORFFA he has not only lived up to these expectations but has surpassed them. In his debut season Marcus played only six games, averaging 91.5 points per game to be a clear leader of the players eligible for the 2015 Rising Star Award. Bontempelli has only missed two ORFFA games from 2015 onwards, increasing his average from 103 points per game in 2015 to 108 points in 2016. Bontempelli has been extremely consistent so far in 2017, scoring at least 115 points in all four games with a season best to date of 140 in Round 2 against Waikikamoocow to earn five votes. Against the Cows Bontempelli stood out with his class and composure, having 17 kicks, 13 handballs, 12 contested possessions, five clearances, seven tackles, six inside 50's, kicked two goals and was sublime with his ball use to have a disposal efficiency of 83.3%. In his four games during 2017 Bontempelli is averaging 127 points per game – ranked fifth in the ORFFA .

Future Les W Medal updates

In the previous three seasons it has been either feast or famine in terms of Les W Medal updates, in 2017 the ORFFA media department are attempting to find a middle ground and updates will be provided roughly every 3 rounds, with the next two updates to be provided after Round 7 and Round 10.

 

Update after Round 12

A best afield Round 5 performance from Wineglass Bay Packers midfielder Rory Sloane resulted in him increasing his tally to 18 votes to gain the outright lead one vote ahead of Lovely Banks Lilacs midfielder Mitch Duncan. The following week Sloane polled three votes to retain the outright lead on 21 votes one ahead of Charlies Opening Spelunkers midfielder Marcus Bontempelli and Larrikin Lagoon Lefties midfielder Sebastian Ross. A three vote performance from Bontempelli in Round 7 led to him regaining the outright lead one vote ahead of Ross.

Lefties midfielder Sebastian Ross in career-best form polled 19 votes out of a possible 25 votes in five games from Round 5 to Round 9 to move into the outright lead after Round 8, a position he retained after Round 9 and Round 10, however at the mid-season break at the conclusion of Round 10 the 2016 Les W Medallist Patrick Dangerfield trailed Ross by only one vote after having consecutive five vote games in Round 9 & Round 10.

After the mid-season break Dangerfield continued in the same form he showed in the weeks before the mid-season break, having back to back best afield performances in Round 11 and Round 12. After Round 12 Dangerfield leads the 2017 Les W Medal on 39 votes, having polled the maximum 20 votes from Round 9 to Round 12 which has seen the odds of him going back to back drastically slashed by ChiefBet. Sebastian Ross is in second place eight votes behind Dangerfield on 31 votes, followed by four midfielders in equal third place on 27 votes – Rory Sloane, Marcus Bontempelli, Nunawading Nuffers contested possession beast Josh Kennedy and Cradle Mountain Devils captain Scott Pendlebury.

The top 10 on the Les W Medal leader-board after Round 12 is provided at:

http://tooserious.net/forum/tsLeagues.php?leagueId=2&round=15#ymme1hFlULMbsK44.97

Player in focus

I wasn’t able to provide the Les W Medal updates after Round 7 and Round 10, however have two Players in focus below who would have held these positions if updates were provided after these rounds. As the Round 7 leader Marcus Bontempelli was the player in focus after Round 4, the Round 7 Player in focus would have been the player in second place one vote behind Bontempelli being Sebastian Ross. Ross was the outright leader after Round 10, so again the player in focus would have been the player in second place being Dangerfield who was one vote behind Ross.

Player in focus – Sebastian Ross, midfielder for Larrikin Lagoon Lefties

During the pre-season trade period Sebastian Ross was a key component in by far the highest profile trade of the period, being traded by the Foul Bay Chickens along with PSD pick 18 to the Larrikin Lagoon Lefties for 2015 Les W Medallist Todd Goldstein. Ross had a break-out season in 2016, averaging 94 points per game, a 27 point increase on his 2015 season.

After winning back to back ORFFA premierships in 2015 and 2016 the Lefties lived up to their name and made an extreme left-field decision deciding to trade out their premiership stars and rebuild. At the Chickens Ross was able to play alongside midfield superstars such as Dangerfield and Selwood, however at the Lefties he has thrived on being the clear-cut number one midfielder at the club and has elevated his game to a new level in 2017. Importantly given the lack of midfield support, Ross has been effective offensively whilst also able to perform a run-with role in the midfield. Ross has played all 12 games in 2017, is averaging a career-best 101 points per game and was arguably the easiest player to select for the State of Origin game during the mid-season break given his undisputed status as the Lefties best player.

Ross started the season in underwhelming fashion, playing against his old-side the Foul Bay Chickens in Round 1 Ross scored only 36 points – the second least of the 11 Lefties to play. Ross has rebounded in brilliant fashion to be a model of consistency for his next 11 games, scoring eight tons and exceeding 85 in each game, he was best afield in Round 2, 5 & 8. In Round 8 Ross scored a season-high 129 points against the Birdsville Battlers, having 11 kicks, 20 handballs, six marks, six clearances, kicked two goals straight and used the ball superbly to have a disposal efficiency of 83.1%. The ball-winning ability of Ross and his hard-running have been strengths, he ranks seventh in the ORFFA for disposals and eighth for uncontested possessions.

Player in focus – Patrick Dangerfield, midfielder for Foul Bay Chickens

Foul Bay Chickens midfielder Dangerfield started 2017 in similar form to he displayed throughout 2016 and polled 12 votes in the first three rounds to be equal leader of the Les W Medal with Marc Murphy. In Round 4 against the Whitsunday Warriors Dangerfield copped a knee to his ribs which hampered him in that game and had him below 100% fitness for several weeks. Whilst Danger continued to play he polled a total of only three Les W Medal votes in four games from Round 4 to Round 7 and his tally of 15 votes after Round 7 found him one vote short of being on the ORFFA leader-board of the top 10 players.

From Round 8 to Round 12 normal transmission has resumed with Dangerfield being easily the most dominant player in the ORFFA, polling 24 votes from a possible 25, comprised of four votes in Round 8 followed by four consecutive best afield performances. Most players would be happy if they scored 145 points in a game once for the season, yet amazingly this has been Dangerfield’s lowest score in this phenomenal four round best afield streak, having also scored 149, 163 and in Round 12 his season-high of 196 points. Over the past five rounds Dangerfield has improved his position from not being on the leader-board to being in a commanding position on 39 votes, eight ahead of Lefties midfielder Sebastian Ross. In a 40 point loss to the Venus Bay Vultures in Round 12 Dangerfield had 16 kicks, 29 handballs, four marks, 13 clearances, six inside 50’s, 25 contested possessions and kicked a goal in an incredible performance to score 196 points.

Dangerfield leads the league in clearances, and contested possessions - 41 ahead of the second ranked Josh Kennedy. Dangerfield is the only player ranked in the top 30 of the ORFFA for total goals to average more than 20 disposals per game, ranking sixth in the league with 31.1 disposals per game.

 

I will provide an update and prepare an article celebrating Dangerfield going back to back and winning the 2017 Les W Medal. A brief update including the list of the top 10 vote-getters will be provided next week however the Dangerfield 2017 Les W medal winner article is unlikely to be posted in the next month as I am going to be busy outside business hours writing articles for my website:

https://milestonesandmisses.com/

Last week I published an article to celebrate Buddy Franklin winning the 2017 Coleman Medal and next week I will be publishing an article on Dustin Martin winning the 2017 Brownlow Medal (working on the safe assumption that Martin wins this award). After that the next two articles to be published on Milestones and misses will be to celebrate Sara Blicavs being a joint winner of WNBL club Dandenong Rangers 2016/17 MVP award and an article on St Kilda’s 2017 best and fairest winner.

After that I will get onto the ORFFA awards, preparing the 2017 Rising Star spreadsheet and asking for ORFFA coaches to submit their votes over a three-week period. Whilst the RS votes are being submitted I will prepare the Dangerfield 2017 Les W medal winner article.

Whilst carrier pigeons are used for both the ORFFA Awards press releases and Cradle Mountain Devils press releases the ORFFA Awards carrier pigeons are quicker and have a better sense of direction than their Cradle Mountain Devils carrier pigeon counterparts as the Devils press release regarding their five-year review which was completed late in 2016 is yet to be delivered.

 

From 2014 onwards when I have made posts in relation to the Les W Medal I have never referred to anyone as being ineligible due to being suspended so I was working on the basis that Dangerfield had won the 2017 Les W Medal, however the award was started in 2013 by @Fitzy so we probably need to check with him if any rules are in place covering suspensions in the AFL.

@Len I was thinking earlier this week that the club champion awards by AFL clubs are always referred to as 'best and fairest' yet no-one is ever deemed to be ineligible due to not being fair so they should probably just say best rather than 'best and fairest'.

 

Maybe consult with @walesy - the medal bears his name. On a more (hopefully) helpful note, best seems right to this coach. The medal is based on performance afield relative to all other players in each team's weekly match. Suspension means no prospect of points that week(s). To accumulate the most points from less than 20 fixtures suggests dominance, no?

However, this is a flaw in my argument. A suspension(s) during the bye rounds incurs no penalty in the LesW count. Luck always plays a part in mosr awards. Perhaps we could have an ORFFA tribunal with the power to suspend a player we think the afl tribunal treated too leniently or clear a player we think was punished unfairly. A sinecure for ex-Commishs perhaps?