Neil Bencraft Trophy Preview

14/09/2018
Jess Mackey

Tonight, the Sandringham Football Club will be hosting its 2018 Neil Bencraft Best & Fairest Trophy.

Despite a disappointing end to the season and missing out on finals, this is an opportunity for the Club to celebrate its strongest and fairest players for the season, and those who put in the work behind the scenes getting the boys ready each week.

There have been some outstanding performances throughout the year, individually.

Brede Seccull goes in tonight a strong favourite, despite having missed a few games at the beginning of the year due to a hand injury he sustained in a practice match against Williamstown. But he hasn’t missed a beat since.

He had an average of 27 disposals a match, and seemed to manage to be in the right place every time. His tackling pressure was outstanding all year, making him one of the most reliable players for the boys.

Last year’s Neil Bencraft Trophy recipient, Kade Answerth, had another outstanding year averaging 20 touches a match and missing just four games for the year.

The impressive midfielder clears the ball out of the middle really well and averaged 5 clearances for the season. His ability and experience is top quality, and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he took out the Trophy for the second year running.

Despite just playing 5 games for the Zebras this year, St Kilda listed mid-forward David Armitage had an average of 35 disposals in those matches and will definitely have votes going into the count tonight.

He averaged 17 kicks and 17 handballs in his limited matches making his presence so important in some big wins for the year.

First year Zebra Hayden McLean, was one of the most efficient disposal getters for the Club this year.

While averaging just 13 touches a game, having him on the field and anywhere near the ball proved to be an imposing authority on the opposition in the forward line, and on the odd occasion, in the ruck. He played 13 matches for Sandringham after starting out in 23 player status and could be a real smoky going into tonight.

St Kilda listed key defender Hugh Goddard played 17 games for Sandringham and averaged 12 touches a game. His dominating presence down back was so important, taking some really important grabs in the Zebras’ defensive fifty.

It’s often difficult for defenders to poll well in the votes each week, so for him to get the win tonight would be huge, however he should still be expected to get up there.

Good luck to all the Zebras boys tonight!