Henderson goes down to the wire

SUNBURY’S Alik Magin is the 2019 McDonald’s Ballarat Football Leauge Henderson Medallist after out lasting a fast finishing Tony Lockyer from Sebastopol to win by one vote on Monday night.

The count came down to the last card with both Magin and Lockyer polling three votes respectively in the final round to add some drama to proceedings.

The silky midfielder described the occasion as, “An absolute honour to be recognised amongst all the other great names that are here and that have won is previous year.”

Magin polled in nine games, with seven three-vote games and two two-vote games enough to drag him across the line.

He credited his time at the Gold Coast Suns for his consistency to poll in more half the games of the season and said that the opportunity to learn under the likes of Gary Ablett Jr was pivotal in shaping him into the player he is today.

“The leadership of players like Gaz, I was just able to learn from, and moving forward with the players that I played with I just continued learn from every step of the way…and yeah the last couple of years at Sunbury I have tried to take those skills where I can and get them to put their foot forward to help the club succeed,” Magin said.

It is somewhat redemption for Magin, with the Lion walking into the 2016 count as the hot favourite to only finish equal second that year behind Lake Wendouree’s Ben Taylor.

W.H. Henderson Medal count:

1 – Alik Magin (Sunbury) 25 votes

2 – Tony Lockyer (Sebastopol) 24 votes

3 – Daniel Burton (Bacchus Marsh) 18 votes*

4 – Shaun Campbell (Melton) 17 votes, Lachlan George (Redan) 17 votes*

*Ineligible

George King Medal – Chris Quinlan (East Point) 28 votes

Dick Rees Trophy – Bailey Mawson (Melton) 19 votes

Mick Malthouse Coach of the Year Award – Leigh Hutchinson (Sebastopol)

Umpire of the Year – Adrian Tinetti