Torquay midfielder joins elite company with Les Ash win

AFTER rejoining his junior club at the start of 2024, Torquay’s Matthew Boag has walked out of tonight’s (Wednesday, September 4) Bellarine Football Netball League Awards Night as a Les Ash Medallist.

Boag became just the sixth Torquay Tiger to claim the BFL’s league best-and-fairest award, finishing with 26 votes, six votes clear of Anglesea playing-coach and coming Grand Final opponent Jordan Keras.

Boag joins Torquay players Mark Browne (1986), Chris Haddock (1990, 1991), George Arnold (1998), Dom Gleeson (2018) and teammate and captain James Darke (2014, 2017, 2021 and 2022) to win the league’s highest individual honour.

With durability a factor in Boag’s overall tally, the former Newtown & Chilwell Eagle played all 18 home and away season games in 2024, after announcing his intention to move back to Spring Creek Reserve following spending 2023 in the Geelong Football League.

Anglesea playing-coach Jordan Keras polled 20 votes to finish the count in second.

Boag wasted no time tallying votes on the night with a best-on-ground performance in his season debut against Drysdale.

He received three votes in Round 3, Round 10, Round 12, Round 14 and Round 15 to make up the bulk of his total.

Boag also polled in Round 4 (2 votes), Round 7 (1 vote), Round 9 (1 vote), before notching up four more votes in the final two rounds of the home and away season.

Among the other award winners, Queenscliff’s Jayden Durran received the Don Cole Medal in the Reserves, finishing ahead of Drysdale’s Joshua Hopgood.

Drysdale’s Luke Preece was a surprise riser in the count with 16 votes. He tied for third alongside Geelong Amateur’s Harry Kershaw and Riley Ferguson.

Newcomb’s Jack Duke and Riley Mattner took out the leading goal-kicker awards in their respective competitions with 71 and 65 goals respectively.

Torquay was also recognised for their success across their senior football program, crowned Football Club Champions.

Geelong Amateur’s Tom Gorrell was named Rookie of the Year.

The 2024 BFL Team of the Year:

Torquay continued its strong representation in the Team of the Year with three players (Ben McNamara, Baxter Mensch and Matthew Boag) and Coach of the Year Dom Gleeson all earning selections to the 2024 side. McNamara, Torquay’s skipper, was also announced as captain.

Drysdale and Modewarre led the pack with four players each – Luke Preece, James Breust, Mitch McGuire and Matthew Pigott for the Hawks; and Oscar Cooke, Matthew Farrelly, Connor Joseph and Josh Finch for the Warriors.

Anglesea matched the Tigers on the player front with Noah McGregor-Dawson, Jordan Keras and Lachlan Smith listed among the 22-player squad.

Geelong Amateur’s Riley Ferguson, Patrick Dowling and Blake Sutterby were also picked, alongside Jack Duke and Jarrod Stafford from Newcomb, Barwon Heads players Kyle Polley and Ryley Stuhldreier, and Portarlington’s Teia Miles.

Here are the top 10 vote-getters: