Patersons Stadium
Sunday September 9, 1.15pm WST/3.15pm EST
He may have been overlooked for the All-Australian squad of 40, but Scott Thompson’s stellar home and away season has been capped off with another perfect 10 from the coaches.
The defender’s 39-possession haul was a career-high, as was his tally of 13 marks. It was enough to earn the highest praise from Brad Scott and Kevin Sheedy.
21 of Thompson’s disposals were contested, and he rebounded the ball from defence on 8 occasions, highlighting his importance as Greater Western Sydney went on the attack in the first quarter.
Two best-on-ground efforts in the past three games were enough to move the 26-year old into third place among the North Melbourne players for the season, behind Andrew Swallow and Brent Harvey.
Also among the votes again was Ben Cunnington. The hard-at-it youngster has finished the year in outstanding fashion with an average of 25 possessions over the last 6 matches. He had 33 disposals, the highest of his 53-game career, against the Giants.
Cunnington’s work around the clearances was also strong. He tallied 8, the best of any North player, and was second only to Thompson for contested ball (19).
In the best for the third time in his debut year, Sam Gibson had 32 disposals to take his average to 22.3 a game. He polled two votes.
Swallow finished with 64 votes with Harvey not far behind on 54.
The votes
10 Scott Thompson (NM)?
8 Toby Greene (GWS)?
3 Ben Cunnington (NM)
3 Jonathan Giles (GWS)?
2 Sam Gibson (NM)?
2 Callan Ward (GWS)?
1 Kieran Harper (NM)?
1 Rhys Palmer (GWS)
North final leaderboard
64 Andrew Swallow
54 Brent Harvey
40 Daniel Wells
38 Drew Petrie
28 Ryan Bastinac
25 Daniel Wells
24 Todd Goldstein
22 Leigh Adams
