“Pretty stoked”: Eagles soar in Whitley, Tansing counts

WINNING the Neville Whitley Medal was the last thing on Tim McLennan’s mind at last night’s Geelong & District Football Netball League count, but after 18 rounds he finished the night above all others.

McLennan’s 22 votes were enough to get him over the line, one vote in front of Inverleigh’s Luke Wilson and two in front of Bell Post Hill midfielder Matthew James.

Despite not polling in the first seven rounds of the season, the Eagles’ ruckman was more than a little surprised to hear his name called at the end last night.

“I didn’t have the greatest start to the year, so coming away with the medal was pretty unexpected,” McLennan said.

“It wasn’t something I planned for coming here on the night, I didn’t think that would happen, but obviously, I’m pretty stoked.”

McLennan was lucky enough to share last night’s success with fellow Eagle and Ivan Tansing Medallist in the reserves vote count, Dale Lappin, with the two sharing a long history at East Geelong.

“Dale and I played a season together a couple years ago, so we’ve got a pretty special bond and speaking to him, he’s pretty stoked, we’re both happy for each other,” McLennan said.

“The club at East Geelong is a really special part of my life, I’ve actually been an Eagle longer than most of the senior players, having arrived to the club in 2017, so this would be my sixth season.

“I’ve just progressively worked on my game and gotten better each year, which has taken us here.”

Reserves best and fairest Dale Lappin said he was “pretty excited” to accept the Ivan Tansing Medal, during a season East Geelong’s reserves were aiming to go undefeated.

“We’re pretty stacked as a group at the moment, to be honest,” Lappin said.

“From when I first started at the club to where we are now, the training standard and the standard of players we have right now has just changed so much.

“It’s exciting times.”

An Eagle since 2019, Lappin credited his teammates and the club with a large portion of his success during what has been an emotional year for all East Geelong members, particularly with the sudden passing of reserves coach Craig “Doc” Carey.

“It has sort of galvanised the group a little, in the sense that it’s brought us all closer together to achieve the end goal after what had happened with Doc,” Lappin added.

“Moving forward, we won’t change our approach too much as a side heading into finals, we’ll just try to think of it as another game and not let it get in our heads.”

To round out the night, McLennan (ruck) earned a Team of the Year selection alongside Eagles teammates Ryan Rich (back), Tom Cordner-Maas (centre line), Ryan Lempa (half-forward), Jake Watson-Serle (half-forward) and John McIntyre (interchange).

East Geelong’s Ben Boseley was appointed Coach of the Year.

McLennan and his seniors teammates face Inverleigh Saturday for a spot in the GDFL firsts Grand Final, while Lappin and his reserves square off with Inverleigh’s seconds in the game before for a spot in the reserves decider.

Here is the top-10 list of vote-getters in the Whitley Medal count:

1. Tim McLennan (East Geelong) – 22 votes
2. Luke Wilson (Inverleigh) – 21 votes
3. Matthew James (Bell Post Hill) –  20 votes
4. Kieran Fulton (Bannockburn) – 19 votes
5. Joel Bennett (Corio) – 18 votes
6. Jack Yates (Bell Post Hill) – 17 votes
7. Blake Dye (Geelong West) – 16 votes
8. Nathan Bisset (Belmont) – 15 votes
9. Jai Robinson (Bannockburn) – 13 votes
10. Matt Tyquin (Inverleigh) – 13 votes