{"id":56555,"date":"2022-08-30T13:50:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T03:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=56555"},"modified":"2022-08-30T14:41:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T04:41:43","slug":"a-pleasant-surprise-benson-reflects-on-whirlwind-mathieson-count","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/a-pleasant-surprise-benson-reflects-on-whirlwind-mathieson-count\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA pleasant surprise\u201d: Benson reflects on whirlwind Mathieson count"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

St Mary\u2019s midfielder Harry Benson needed just 12 full games of GFL football to tally 25 votes, edging out Leopold\u2019s Marcus Thompson (23 votes) and North Shore\u2019s Nick Dixon (23 votes), as well as overcoming the ineligible Darcy Lang (26 votes).<\/p>\n

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Benson joined by runners-up Marcus Thompson (Leopold) and Nick Dixon (North Shore).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019s Entertainment Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pretty surprised actually; a pleasant surprise, though,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the season is still going this time around I\u2019m really happy about.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, with two years and no finals, you feel like the season hasn\u2019t really been ticked off yet, but to still be playing and to win this medal [again] is a high honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A broken jaw would sideline Benson from Round 12 through to Round 18, not allowing him to poll until Round 16\u2019s rescheduled outing against St Joseph\u2019s to conclude the season.<\/p>\n

A final best-on-ground\u00a0performance took his vote tally to 25 at the last possible moment of the count: a moment to remember for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis medal kind of feels like last year\u2019s in the sense I had missed a chunk of games, however, I\u2019m still happy to receive it,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nerves didn\u2019t really start to hit until the final few weeks of the count, honestly, I didn\u2019t think I was a chance. By the end, I was just hoping the helmet would get me a couple extra votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily for me it got me there in the final round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to St Mary\u2019s success, Saints teammates Jesse Travaglini (half-back) and Patrick Dowling (half-forward) received Team of the Year selections.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s success this season to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have really been pushing us this season,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a real young and high developing group, and they\u2019ve just gone and given us a nudge, which has allowed us to push one another and challenge each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve just put the icing on the cake, putting us in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The top-10 vote-getters in the Geelong Football League:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Darcy Lang (Colac) \u2013 26 votes (ineligible)
\n2 Harry Benson (St Mary\u2019s) \u2013 25 votes
\n3 Marcus Thompson (Leopold) \u2013 23 votes
\n4 Nicholas Dixon (North Shore) \u2013 23 votes
\n5 Baxter Mensch (Geelong West) \u2013 21 votes
\n6 Lachlan Patten (Bell Park) \u2013 19 votes
\n7 Jack Blood (St Mary\u2019s) \u2013 15 votes
\n8 Matthew McMahon (Newtown & Chilwell) \u2013 15 votes (ineligible)
\n9 Tylar Watts (Geelong West) \u2013 15 votes
\n10 Brody Mahoney (Colac), Jai Thomson (Leopold) and James Gow (St Joseph\u2019s) \u2013 14 votes<\/p>\n

Geelong Football League Team of the Year<\/strong> led by St Mary\u2019s co-coaches Travis Robertson<\/strong> and Glenn Keast<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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Team of the Season for 2022 led by St Mary’s coaches Travis Robertson and Glenn Keast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n