	{"id":82065,"date":"2023-08-31T11:48:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T01:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=82065"},"modified":"2023-08-31T17:56:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T07:56:02","slug":"surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSurreal\u201d moment for Whitley Medal winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CORIO Devils midfielder Joel Bennett described the moment he won the Geelong &amp; District Football League\u2019s (GDFL) Whitley Medal as \u201csurreal\u201d after he polled 30 votes at yesterday\u2019s (Wednesday, August 30) Awards Night.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bennett, who became the first Devil to win the competition\u2019s highest individual accolade since Ricky O\u2019Toole in 2003, symbolised the medal as the sum of his team\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s not really something you think about until a couple days before the Awards Night when everyone starts wishing you luck, but yeah, it\u2019s pretty surreal,\u201d Bennett said during his speech.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_82081\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82081\" style=\"width: 798px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-82081 \" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-scaled.jpg?_t=1693445708\" alt=\"\" width=\"798\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A7008-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-82081\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joel Bennett next to father and co-coach, Darren Bennett.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe award is more so not about me playing well, the club was in a pretty bad state in 2019, and now we\u2019re starting to play well against other good sides.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s about the guys that have come into the group this season, guys like Jack Green, Destyn Burns and countless more. I know it\u2019s a clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s got nothing to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_82086\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82086\" style=\"width: 852px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-82086 \" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-scaled.jpg?_t=1693446053\" alt=\"\" width=\"852\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6961A-1-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-82086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GDFL president Neville Whitley places the league best and fairest medal around Joel Bennett&#8217;s neck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bennett finished six votes ahead of Werribee Centrals midfielder Tyler Crennan (24 votes) and 12 votes ahead of Winchelsea\u2019s Tavae Sauni (18 votes).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He polled in 12 games and was named best on ground eight times to amass a whopping 30 votes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bennett, fresh off inking a two-year extension with the club alongside father and co-coach Darren, remains committed to the Devils family.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was also named Team of the Year captain for the second-straight year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_82085\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82085\" style=\"width: 672px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-82085 \" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089.jpg?_t=1693445962\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089.jpg 8192w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/2H3A3089-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-82085\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2023 Team of the Year, led by Thomson coach Paul Lynch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joel was not the only Corio player to receive accolades on the night with brother, Toby Bennett, also receiving Team of the Season honours in the half-back line, an emotional moment for the Whitley Medal recipient.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI won the Whitley, but I\u2019m prouder of the fact I made the Team of the Year with my brother,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat means so much more to me than the medal around my neck, my brother doesn\u2019t get the recognition he deserves of how good of a footballer he is.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_82084\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82084\" style=\"width: 760px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-82084 \" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-scaled.jpg?_t=1693445862\" alt=\"\" width=\"760\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/061A6999-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-82084\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joel Bennett (back, third from right) with Corio&#8217;s representatives last night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe\u2019s a pretty good footballer and I\u2019m so proud he\u2019s in the team with me, but since I came back to the club, there hasn\u2019t been anyone from Corio making the side, so to see his name up there with mine is pretty cool.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bennett will start off-season recruiting in the coming months alongside his father in what he described as exciting times for the Corio Community Sports Club.<\/p>\n<p>Full Awards Night gallery by Marcel Berens can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/photo-galleries\/geelong-district-football-league-awards-night\/\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CORIO Devils midfielder Joel Bennett described the moment he won the Geelong &amp; District Football League\u2019s (GDFL) Whitley Medal as \u201csurreal\u201d after he polled 30 votes at yesterday\u2019s (Wednesday, August 30) Awards Night. Bennett, who became the first Devil to win the competition\u2019s highest individual accolade since Ricky O\u2019Toole in 2003, symbolised the medal as [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":82078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-82065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cSurreal\u201d moment for Whitley Medal winner - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cSurreal\u201d moment for Whitley Medal winner - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CORIO Devils midfielder Joel Bennett described the moment he won the Geelong &amp; District Football League\u2019s (GDFL) Whitley Medal as \u201csurreal\u201d after he polled 30 votes at yesterday\u2019s (Wednesday, August 30) Awards Night. Bennett, who became the first Devil to win the competition\u2019s highest individual accolade since Ricky O\u2019Toole in 2003, symbolised the medal as [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-31T01:48:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-31T07:56:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2023\/08\/Whitley-Final-1.png?_t=1693468563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vinnie van Oorschot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vinnie van Oorschot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Vinnie van Oorschot\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c27fba79ad4a3b2b6d12f386207b3fce\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cSurreal\u201d moment for Whitley Medal winner\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-31T01:48:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-31T07:56:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Whitley-Final-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cSurreal\u201d moment for Whitley Medal winner - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Whitley-Final-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-31T01:48:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-31T07:56:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/surreal-moment-for-whitley-medal-winner\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Whitley-Final-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Whitley-Final-1.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Corio's Joel Bennett with the Neville Whitley Medal. 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