MERRETT-MURRAY MEDAL
The Merrett-Murray Medal, awarded to the Brisbane Lions’ best and fairest player at the annual Club Champion dinner, is named after Roger Merrett and Kevin Murray who were icons of the Bears and Fitzroy respectively.
Merrett, who was inducted into the Lions Hall of Fame earlier this year, is not only the Bears’ games and goals record-holder, but his seven seasons as Brisbane’s Captain is the equal third longest rein in the Club’s combined history – behind only Legends Michael Voss (10 years) and Murray (eight years).
Murray is one of only three official Lions Legends – along with Voss and Haydn Bunton – and holds the all-time Club record for most senior matches played with 333.
Murray also boasts an equal VFL/AFL record nine best and fairest awards with Fitzroy – which is three times the amount won by recently retired Lions champions (and future Hall of Fame Legends) Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.
Brown’s mid-season retirement means there are only two active players on the Lions’ list who have previously taken home the Club’s highest individual honour – Tom Rockliff (in 2011) and Joel Patfull (in 2012 and 2013).
Not surprisingly, both Rockliff and Patfull will be among the leading contenders heading into Friday night’s 2014 Merrett-Murray Medal count.
The Club has already revealed that a new voting system was introduced at the beginning of the season, but it remains to be seen how this might impact the players’ finishing positions.
In short, the voting system has changed from rating each player out of five (including half votes), to now allocating up to 12 votes per player per game based on the three key areas on the game plan.
At the very least, fans can expect a significantly higher vote tally than in previous seasons when the winner would generally poll somewhere between 30 and 40 votes.
Tom Rockliff and Pearce Hanley should feature prominently in the vote-count
MAIN CONTENDERS
Tom Rockliff will probably head into the count as a warm favourite to claim his second Club Championship, considering he leads the Lions in a number of key statistics and boasts career-best averages in disposals (32.7 per game), tackles (9.1), and clearances (6.2).
On the other hand, the Lions Vice-Captain has also missed a total of four senior matches due to a combination of suspension (two games) and illness (two games).
It might not sound like much in the context of an entire season, but history suggests that a player’s chances of winning lessen considerably with each game that he misses.
In fact, no player in the history of the Merrett-Murray Medal (17 years) has won the award after playing less than 20 matches.
So Rockliff, who finished the season with 18 matches to his name, re-write history if he proves successful on the night.
He will have some stiff competition in Joel Patfull, who will be eyeing off a remarkable hat-trick of Medals.
The no-fuss defender probably started the season off a little slowly, but recaptured his best form to prove one of the team’s most reliable, and consistent, players.
Statistics might not do justice the 29-year-old’s considerable impact on games, but his importance isn’t lost on his teammates, coaches, and the fans.
If Patfull reigns supreme once again, he will become just the sixth player in the Club’s combined history to win a hat-trick of best and fairest awards – joining Kevin Murray, Jonathan Brown, Norm Brown, Garry Wilson, and Allan Ruthven.
There is also a genuine chance that the Lions could be crowning a first-time Club Champion, with Dayne Zorko, Pearce Hanley, and Jed Adcock all staking their claim for a maiden title.
Zorko played all but one match in 2014 – missing the Round 23 clash against Geelong for family reasons – and, like Rockliff, is averaging career-best numbers.
The Queensland pocket rocket has averaged a career-best 22.2 disposals per game this season – almost three higher than his previous best effort – and has more than doubled his amount of clearances from last year.
The only area where Zorko hasn’t been quite as productive this season compared to 2013 is in front of goals, although he still finished with 18 – the third most at the Club.
With top 10 finishes in each of his first two seasons (including an equal fourth placing last year) you would expect ‘The Zork’ will be right in the mix.
Captain Adcock is one of only three Lions players who played in every match in 2014, and continues to be a rock in the team’s relatively inexperienced defence.
He is no stranger to Club Champion night with a couple of podium finishes (in 2007 and 2005).
Another player with a good best and fairest history is Hanley, who has gradually climbed the Merrett-Murray leaderboard in recent years.
The Irishman finished fourth in 2011, third in 2012, and was Runner-Up to Patfull last year. If the sequence continues as it has over the past three years, he might finally get the chocolates in 2014.
Hanley has been a bit hot and cold this season, but when he’s ‘on’, he can be one of the most damaging players in the competition.
He has collected 30 or more disposals seven times this season – including that remarkable 45-possession performance against the Gold Coast in QClash 8, which earned him a maiden Marcus Ashcroft Medal.
On the other hand, Hanley has also been held to an equal career-low total of just nine touches twice this season.
Or will the team’s leading goal-kicker, Josh Green, poll enough votes to take home the Merrett-Murray Medal?
Green is on track for his best AFL season, and has remained supremely consistent throughout. A couple of games missed due to a hamstring strain early in the season might not help his cause, but he’s hit the scoreboard in all but two of his matches, including five ‘bags’ of the goals.
It’s also not out of the question that the Medal finishes up around the neck of a player who’s still in the early stages of his AFL development.
Lewy Taylor, fresh from his AFL Rising Star win on Wednesday, and Justin Clarke are the only other Lions to have played in every match this season and regularly perform their role for the team, while South Australian pair Sam Mayes and James Aish could secure the honour well ahead of their time.
Even if the Medal eludes the young players mentioned above in 2014, you would expect their names will regularly feature high on the leaderboard for many years to come.
And what about Stefan Martin? The 27-year-old has been arguably the best big man in the competition in the second half of the season, with Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch even hinting that Martin might have the Medal in the bag had he not missed the team’s first 10 matches.
It would be some sort of effort if Martin was able to make up all that lost ground, and claim victory.
Meanwhile, Jack Redden’s untimely leg injury not only broke his streak of 112 consecutive games from debut, but it will probably also limit his chances of a fifth straight top five finish in the Merrett-Murray Medal.
There’s no doubt Redden would have again been vying for one of the top spots at the Lions’ ‘night of nights’ had he remained healthy, but you wouldn’t expect that 14 matches is enough for him to mount a serious challenge.
Can Joel Patfull become just the sixth person in Club history to claim a B&F hat-trick?
OTHER AWARDS
While the Club Champion dinner will culminate in the presentation of the Merrett-Murray Medal, there will be a host of other awards up for grabs throughout the evening.
The Rookie of the Year should prove interesting, particularly following on from the results from Wednesday’s NAB AFL Rising Star awards ceremony.
Rising Star winner Lewy Taylor and James Aish (who finished fourth overall) will likely battle out this category, and it’s anyone’s guess as to which way it falls.
Tom Rockliff seemed to have the Members Player of the Year award wrapped up mid-season given the mountain of votes he’d been receiving from fans online, and would be right in the frame for the Player’s Player of the Year along with Pearce Hanley, Joel Patfull, Dayne Zorko, and Jed Adcock.
The Most Professional Player and Most Competitive Player are difficult to judge as they’re generally based on the opinion of those within the inner-sanctum of the Club.
The Club will also present a Brisbane Lions Reserves Best & Fairest Award for the first time in 2014, which was selected in a similar fashion to the Merrett-Murray Medal, but with those players who represented the Club in the NEAFL.
Newly crowned 2014 NAB AFL Rising Star Lewy Taylor will up against James Aish for Lions Rookie of the Year honours
STATS LEADERS
Statistics don’t always paint an accurate picture of a season, but they do provide a valuable snapshot of the season’s best performers. Please find below some of the Lions’ key stats leaders in 2014 (NB: All figures are season totals, not averages) :
Disposals (Total)
1. Tom Rockliff (589)
2. Pearce Hanley (504)
3. Dayne Zorko (466)
4. Jed Adcock (407)
5. Lewy Taylor (371)
Contested Possessions (Total)
1. Tom Rockliff (245)
2. Dayne Zorko (200)
3. Jack Redden (150)
4. Pearce Hanley (145)
5. James Aish (131)
Marks (Total)
1. Joel Patfull (108)
=2. Pearce Hanley (96)
=2. Tom Rockliff (96)
4. James Aish (94)
5. Sam Mayes (92)
Contested Marks (Total)
1. Joel Patfull (19)
2. Daniel Merrett (17)
3. Michael Close (10)
4. Jonathan Brown (9)
=5. Justin Clarke (8)
=5. Stefan Martin (8)
=5. Ryan Harwood (8)
Clearances (Total)
1. Tom Rockliff (112)
2. Dayne Zorko (87)
3. Jack Redden (76)
4. Pearce Hanley (59)
5. Ryan Lester (56)
Rebound 50s (Total)
1. Jed Adcock (79)
2. Tom Rockliff (64)
3. Matt Maguire (50)
4. Sam Mayes (48)
5. Justin Clarke (47)
Tackles (Total)
1. Tom Rockliff (163)
2. Dayne Zorko (115)
3. Jack Redden (98)
4. Pearce Hanley (81)
5. James Aish (77)
Inside 50s (Total)
1. Pearce Hanley (91)
2. Dayne Zorko (88)
3. Jed Adcock (73)
4. Josh Green (67)
5. Tom Rockliff (53)
Goals (Total)
1. Josh Green (33)
2. Jonathan Brown (21)
3. Dayne Zorko (18)
=4. Daniel Merrett (12)
=4. Lewy Taylor (12)
Goal Assist (Total)
1. Pearce Hanley (17)
2. Josh Green (15)
3. Dayne Zorko (13)
4. Ryan Lester (10)
5. Jed Adcock (9)
Hitouts (Total)
1. Stefan Martin (338)
2. Trent West (240)
3. Matthew Leuenberger (116)
4. Daniel Merrett (36)
5. Jack Redden (21)
One Per Centers (Total)
1. Justin Clarke (174)
2. Joel Patfull (112)
3. Darcy Gardiner (82)
4. Daniel Merrett (77)
5. Matt Maguire (74)
Keep posted to the Lions' official Twitter account (@brisbanelions) for LIVE updates from the Club Champion dinner this Friday night 5 September
