By Jonty Ralphsmith
Over the Christmas period, the Journal’s sports team will be re-sharing some of the most popular stories from over the course of 2024.
Thank you for supporting our newspapers over the course of the year. We hope you enjoy the selection and have a wonderful holiday period, however you choose to celebrate.
Gippsland Power pair Xavier Lindsay and Ash Centra have taken out the Morrish Medals as the best and fairest player in the Coates League boys and girls competitions respectively.
It caps a remarkable season for both players, with Lindsay putting himself firmly in first round conversations, while Centra has solidified her status has one of the finest players of the 2024 AFLW draft crop.
Lindsay took out the boys medal with 21 votes, ahead of Dandenong Stingrays co-captain Cooper Hynes, who finished with 19 votes.
It’s a stunning achievement for a player who was fully fit for just 10 of the Power’s 15 games, missing three full games and not playing out two others due to injury.
Injury has also stymied Lindsay in the past two preseasons, while he also missed the finals series with a PCL injury, but it followed a terrific season where he averaged 23 disposals and five clearances in 12 Coates League games.
A smooth-mover and hard-runner who uses the ball beautifully, Lindsay’s inside-outside balance as a midfielder is also impressive, while he has also shown during his time in the talent pathways he can play off halfback.
Power coach Rhett McLennan was full of praise for Lindsay’s season.
“It was an amazing season,” McLennan said.
“His progression (lay in) his ability to solve problems throughout the year which was really impressive given he’s working on a base of no preseason for the last two years.
“His upside is bigger than what most people think which is really exciting.
“He was of ultimate importance to us, providing a steady head and really good connection and excellent leadership.
“Everyone in a football side is replaceable but he goes right at the top end of being very hard to replace.”
Lindsay’s footy smarts also stood out, with his versatility also a key feature.
He played mostly as a midfielder-forward in 2024, but his ball use and endurance made him an apt halfback and winger, which is where the 183cm player appears likely to start his AFL career.
“I think his ability to compete from an inside mid point-of-view, (and) work out how he plays against bigger bodies, use his strengths to his advantage and figure out how to use his strengths against each player he plays against and sums it up is an impressive trait,” McLennan said.
“It will serve him well at the highest level.”
As well as winning the Morrish Medal, he was also named in the Coates League team of the year, capping off a tremendous season where he also represented the AFL Academy and was named in the under-18s All-Australian team thanks to a terrific national championships.
Lindsay’s Power teammate, Alixzander Tauru, was also named in the team-of-the-year following a barnstorming finish to 2024 which has put him in top-five calculations for the AFL draft.
The intercepting defender rose to prominence with marking sprees against Sydney Swans Academy in round 4 and Murray in round 11 before being called up to the Vic Country squad and continuing his strong form.
Dandenong co-captains Hynes and Harvey Langford were also named in the team of the year, in attack and the midfield respectively.
It caps off a terrific season for Hynes, where he averaged 24 disposals and three tackles across 15 games for the Stingrays as a midfielder.
He also kicked 23 goals across his 15 games, highlighting his ability to go forward and punish teams on the scoreboard using his power and marking.
A strong preseason laid the foundation for a breakout season for the 190cm midfielder who some view as a first round prospect.
The consistency of his season was arguably his most impressive feat, with Hynes using his footy smarts to find ways to hurt teams in different ways, accumulating at least 16 disposals in every game he played.
Hynes was used in tandem in the midfield with Langford, with one often playing forward while the other was the enforcer in the middle.
Langford’s power and overhead marking propelled him to an equal-10th placing in the Morrish Medal with 11 votes.
He averaged 26 disposals and kicked 20 goals in his 15 games, to put himself in pick one calculations, with the team of the year selection following his joint-Larke Medal as the best player of the under-18s national championships – boys.
Centra won the girls count with 25 votes, five ahead of second placed Lucia Painter.
The 18-year-old had a near-perfect season, averaging 28 disposals and more than a goal per game, winning multiple games off her own boot.
Centra started the year with a mind-boggling 47-disposal, four goal match against Murray which set the tone for an enormous campaign.
It was one of five games where Centra combined at least 28 disposals with multiple goals, with the smooth-moving, neat-kicking, strong marking utility primed to impact early in her AFLW career.
Centra was also named in the under-18s All Australian team, and represented the AFLW Academy.
Meanwhile, Stingrays co-captain Zoe Besanko’s promising season was capped off by a team of the year selection and fifth-placing in the girls Morrish Medal count.
The key-position player finished fifth on 17 votes – eight votes behind Centra.
Besanko was also named in the under-18s All Australian team, underlining her strong national carnival.
For the Stingrays, she averaged 12 disposals, four tackles and 14 hitouts and also kicked 10 goals across 15 games, highlighted by a 19 disposal game in round three where she had six shots on goal.
Clean midfielder/forward Jemma Reynolds was also named in the Coates League team of the year, and averaged a squad-high 23 disposals for the Rays.
