Tara Murray
The Essendon District Football League division 1 best and fairest went down to the wire, with two of the competition’s biggest names claiming the award.
Former AFL player Shaun McKernan, who returned to his junior club Tullamarine this year, and Airport West gun Tyson Young both polled 23 votes to win the W Hutchison Medal.
McKernan said he had enjoyed returning to the club where he grew up, admitting that he was shocked by the standard of the competition.
“The standard of footy was a lot better than I expected it to be,” he said. “Guys like Tyson are proven premier division players.
“Credit to him, he obviously has done well too. There were a lot of guys that could have won it, not just us two.
“The standard of footy was really good.”
McKernan said that while he enjoyed the on field stuff, it was the off field that had attracted him to come back after his AFL career ended.
“The best thing was reconnecting with the people that I grew up with,” he said. “In particular playing with my best mate Adam Scott, this was going to be his last year of footy.
“To be able to pull on the jumper with him was one of the main reasons I came back.”
For Young, it’s the second time he has won the Hutchison Medal, winning it five years ago.
He said this time it was a different feeling.
“It was a pretty thrilling contest coming into the evening,” he said. “I had a lot of help during the year from Airport West.
“The first one was a bit of a shock to be honest. I was a 19-year-old in my second year of senior footy, I come in and got a bit pissed.
“I thought I might have been a bit of a chance so I paced myself, it was a great recognition of a great year.”
Young, who was also named captain in the team of the year, said having a season with Greenvale in premier division, had opened up his eyes on what he had to do to take his game to the next level.
He said thought his side, which won the division 1 premiership, would be competitive in premier division next year.
In premier division, Strathmore’s Will Jury won the Reynolds Medal while in division 2, Cooper Keogh and Jordan Hughes won the medal.
