Sandilands named top docker
10/10/2009 8:42 AM
Ruckman Aaron Sandilands has won the Doig Medal as Fremantle's best and fairest player for the 2009 AFL season.
The award capped a stellar season for Sandilands, who was last month named in the All Australian team for the second consecutive year.
The runner-up in the 2008 Doig Medal, Sandilands polled votes in 16 out of the 20 games he played in season 2009 for a total of 132 votes.
As the competition's dominant ruckman, Sandilands amassed 659 hit outs, averaging 32.9 per game. He also averaged 17 disposals and five clearances per game with a disposal efficiency of 70.1 per cent.
Club captain and five-time Doig Medallist Matthew Pavlich was runner-up on 112 votes. The club's leading goal kicker this season, Pavlich polled votes in 15 of the 19 games he played in.
Chris Tarrant, who was a revelation in 2009 after making a move to defence in his 12th season of football following 11 years as a key forward, finished third with 89 votes.
The Beacon Award for the club's best first year player was won by Stephen Hill, Fremantle's first round pick at the 2008 National Draft.
Hill arrived on the AFL scene determined to let his football do the talking. It only took until round six for the football world to sit up and take notice after the 19-year-old won a NAB Rising Star nomination for his outstanding performance in the derby.
Hill was one of only seven Fremantle players, including fellow debutant Nick Suban, to play in all 22 games this season.