“A pleasant surprise”: Benson reflects on whirlwind Mathieson count

IN ONE of the most chaotic and unorthodox Mathieson Medal counts in Geelong Football League history, a familiar face emerged the winner for a second time in as many years.

St Mary’s midfielder Harry Benson needed just 12 full games of GFL football to tally 25 votes, edging out Leopold’s Marcus Thompson (23 votes) and North Shore’s Nick Dixon (23 votes), as well as overcoming the ineligible Darcy Lang (26 votes).

Benson, now a two-time Mathieson Medal winner, missed five rounds during the season with a jaw broken in three places, leading the Saint to believe it would be more of a low-key Monday night at Buckley’s Entertainment Centre.

“I was pretty surprised actually; a pleasant surprise, though,” Benson said.

“The fact that the season is still going this time around I’m really happy about.

“Obviously, with two years and no finals, you feel like the season hasn’t really been ticked off yet, but to still be playing and to win this medal [again] is a high honour.”

Benson polled in all eight opening games of the season, accumulating 22 votes out of a possible 24 votes by Round 9, six of which were best-on-grounds.

A broken jaw would sideline Benson from Round 12 through to Round 18, not allowing him to poll until Round 16’s rescheduled outing against St Joseph’s to conclude the season.

A final best-on-ground performance took his vote tally to 25 at the last possible moment of the count: a moment to remember for years to come.

“This medal kind of feels like last year’s in the sense I had missed a chunk of games, however, I’m still happy to receive it,” Benson said.

“The nerves didn’t really start to hit until the final few weeks of the count, honestly, I didn’t think I was a chance. By the end, I was just hoping the helmet would get me a couple extra votes.

“Luckily for me it got me there in the final round.”

Adding to St Mary’s success, Saints teammates Jesse Travaglini (half-back) and Patrick Dowling (half-forward) received Team of the Year selections.

Club coaches Travis Robertson and Glenn Keast also received a shared Coach of the Year recognition for a second year in a row, and Benson attributing much of his success and the team’s success this season to them.

“They have really been pushing us this season,” Benson said.

“We have a real young and high developing group, and they’ve just gone and given us a nudge, which has allowed us to push one another and challenge each other.

“They’ve just put the icing on the cake, putting us in the right direction.”

Benson and the Saints will reset to training this week ahead of a much-anticipated rematch with Newtown & Chilwell on Saturday for a spot in the GFL Grand Final.

The top-10 vote-getters in the Geelong Football League:

1 Darcy Lang (Colac) – 26 votes (ineligible)
2 Harry Benson (St Mary’s) – 25 votes
3 Marcus Thompson (Leopold) – 23 votes
4 Nicholas Dixon (North Shore) – 23 votes
5 Baxter Mensch (Geelong West) – 21 votes
6 Lachlan Patten (Bell Park) – 19 votes
7 Jack Blood (St Mary’s) – 15 votes
8 Matthew McMahon (Newtown & Chilwell) – 15 votes (ineligible)
9 Tylar Watts (Geelong West) – 15 votes
10 Brody Mahoney (Colac), Jai Thomson (Leopold) and James Gow (St Joseph’s) – 14 votes

Geelong Football League Team of the Year led by St Mary’s co-coaches Travis Robertson and Glenn Keast:

• Backs: Jack Driver (South Barwon), Jack Leonard (North Shore) and Andrew Higgins (South Barwon)
• Half Backs: Jarryn McCormack (Colac), Braden Hocking (Newtown & Chilwell) and Jesse Travaglini (St Mary’s)
• Followers:  Ruck Luke Davis (South Barwon), Ruck Rover Jonathan Simpkin (Colac) and Rover Harry Benson (St Mary’s)
• Wing: Nick Dixon (North Shore), Centre:  Marcus Thomson (c) (Leopold) and Wing: Darcy Lang (Colac)
• Half Forwards: Patrick Dowling (St Mary’s), Jackson Bright (Bell Park) and Mitch Chafer (Grovedale)
• Forwards: Adam Garner (Colac), Mitchell Day (Lara) and Mitchell Patten (Colac)
• Interchange: Baxter Mensch (Geelong West), Hayden Elliot (St Albans), James Gow (St Joseph’s), Lachlan Patten (Bell Park) and Luke Maddock (Newtown & Chilwell).