View Full Version : 2003 Crichton Medallists: Hird & Lucas
Congrats to Jimmy and Scotland.
1st: Hird and Lucas
3rd: JJ
4th: Lloyd
5th: MJ
Cupestar
2 Oct 2003, 00:45
Fantastic season from them both, congrats and well deserved.
Does anyone have a full list of votes?
HISTORIC TIE IN 2003 CRICHTON MEDAL
Wednesday, 1 October 2003
James Hird and Scott Lucas have tied for the Crichton Medal as the best and fairest players at Essendon Football Club in season 2003. Hird joins Tim Watson and Simon Madden as other four-time winners of the prestigious award while it is a first-time honour for Lucas. It is the first time in the club’s 106-year history that the best and fairest award has been tied.
In an exciting vote count, Hird held a 23-vote lead going into the final game of the season, the semi-final against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. That was exactly the number of votes picked up by Lucas who was clearly the Bombers’ best player on the night. The tie was sealed when Hird failed to collect a vote.
For the majority of the count it was Jason Johnson and Matthew Lloyd who looked likely to fight out the finish. Johnson led by 32 votes at the halfway mark of the count and it was Lloyd who held an eight-vote lead with just four rounds to go. However Hird and Lucas finished too well late in the season.
Crichton Medal voting is based on three members of the match committee giving a maximum of 10 votes for up to eight players in each game. Hird polled votes in 14 of the 16 games he played. The maximum number of votes any single performance attracted in 2003 was 26 and Hird did that three times – Round 18 v Carlton, Round 21 v Fremantle and the Elimination Final v Fremantle.
Scott Lucas polled votes in 18 games – his best performance of the season was judged to come in Round 20 v Richmond when he collected 24 votes. Lucas polled votes in 10 of his 11 last games.
Apart from Hird there were only two other 26-vote performances – Dustin Fletcher in Round 2 v Melbourne when he shut down David Neitz and Matthew Lloyd for his 11-goal performance against the Western Bulldogs in Round 19.
Other awards presented during the night were:
Leading Goalkicker: Matthew Lloyd
Most Improved: David Hille
Best First Year Player: Damian Cupido
Most Courageous: Adam McPhee
Best Clubman: Adam Ramanauskas
Best Finals’ Player: Scott Lucas
VFL Best and Fairest: Nick Carter
TOP 10 IN 2003 CRICHTON MEDAL
James Hird 301
Scott Lucas 301
Jason Johnson 282
Matthew Lloyd 263
Mark Johnson 255
Damien Peverill 214
Dean Solomon 166
Dean Rioli 143
Sean Wellman 140
David Hille 135
Cupido13
2 Oct 2003, 09:53
Well done Cupido. It was a good move coming back home and playing at a club that gave you the chance you deserved. There are a lot of Cupido knockers out there, but, get used to see his name on the Bombers team sheet, cos, he is here to stay for a few years yet.
Darealrath
2 Oct 2003, 13:22
Fitting result. Both deserved.
Stealth bomber
2 Oct 2003, 14:43
Terrific stuff, and a fitting result in the end because I thought both of them really deserved it. I couldn't split them.
Surprised that JJ polled well actually; I didn't think he had that great a year.
Lloyd a bit stiff to finish fourth. Three Colemans in four years; what does he have to do?
Cupido13
2 Oct 2003, 14:49
Originally posted by Stealth bomber
Terrific stuff, and a fitting result in the end because I thought both of them really deserved it. I couldn't split them.
Surprised that JJ polled well actually; I didn't think he had that great a year.
Lloyd a bit stiff to finish fourth. Three Colemans in four years; what does he have to do?
I think you will find this is a reflection of the expectations on Lloyd by the club. It is no big deal for the club for him to kick 5 or 6 goals a game. Whereas at other clubs this would almost be viewed as a best on ground performance by most. Having said this, club best and fairest are also voted on by people from within the club, which means that they are more aware of the roles each player has been assigned to particular players, which would have been a big help for JJ and even Scoota. Plus the fact that although JJ did have as many starring games as in previous years, as you can say from the large vote totals, there are more votes on offer than just 3,2,1 so there is more chance of consistency being rewarded than in the case of the Brownlow.