IT WAS a week for the big men in the Smithy’s VFL Coaches Player of the Year Award over the Easter weekend.

Williamstown big man Tom Downie and North Melbourne full-forward Charlie Comben each polled a perfect 10 vote on Good Friday, while GWS recruit Jarrod Brander’s matchwinning turn gained him maximum votes on Easter Saturday, with the only outlier being star Port Melbourne midfielder Eli Templeton, who was voted unanimously best on ground in his team’s drought-breaking win on Easter Sunday.

Downie was the dominant figure at Williamstown despite the Seagulls going down to Werribee, earning 16 disposals, seven marks, 42 hitouts and a long goal that almost pinched the win for his team, while Comben took seven marks and kicked four goals including a last-gasp winner for the Kangaroos to upset Footscray at Aegis Park.

Brander was everywhere as the Giants swamped Collingwood at AIA Centre, picking up 22 touches and 10 marks and kicking 4.3, while Templeton was the catalyst for the Borough breaking a 358-day victory drought with 32 possessions, five marks and two goals.

Swans Academy graduate Jackson Barling (20 disposals, 10 tackles, one goal) and captain Tom Wilson (35 touches, nine marks) each polled nine votes in the Northern Bullants’ head-turning interstate upset of Sydney, while Gold Coast had the two dominant players on the ground in an eight-point loss to Sandringham – Jeremy Sharp had a remarkable 40 disposals, eight marks and two goals and Chris Burgess took eight marks and booted six goals at full-forward.

But the top of the leaderboard is again all about superstar Southport co-captain Jacob Dawson, who took seven votes as best-on-ground in the Sharks’ big win over Geelong on Easter Thursday with 32 disposals and four marks and now leads the award by 11 votes from Brander, Collingwood’s Callum Brown, Carlton’s 100-gamer Will Hayes and his Sharks’ offsider Boyd Woodcock.

As with the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year, the VFL award is voted on by the coaches of each club after every game.

The coaches are awarding 5-4-3-2-1 to their best players in the game from either team, with those votes collated and revealed each week on vfl.com.au.

A total of 34 players attracted the coaches’ attention in Round 4, making it 190 to have polled so far this season.

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

ROUND 4 VOTES

Southport 15.13 (103) def Geelong 8.8 (56)
7 Jacob Dawson (Sou)
6 Boyd Woodcock (Sou)
4 Francis Evans (Gee)
4 Jesse Joyce (Sou)
3 Jye Chalcraft (Gee)
3 Brayden Crossley (Sou)
3 Max Pescud (Sou)

North Melbourne 13.7 (85) def Footscray 10.19 (79)
10 Charlie Comben (NM)
6 Buku Khamis (Foo)
6 Dom Tyson (NM)
5 Paul Curtis (NM)
2 Stefan Martin (Foo)
1 Harry Jones (NM)

Williamstown 9.4 (58) lost to Werribee 8.17 (65)
10 Tom Downie (Wil)
5 Keegan Gray (Wer)
5 Tom Gribble (Wer)
4 Matt Hanson (Wer)
3 Jack Henderson (Wer)
2 Nick Hayes (Wer)
1 Kallan Dawson (Wil)

Sandringham 16.13 (109) def Gold Coast 15.11 (101)
8 Chris Burgess (GC)
8 Jeremy Sharp (GC)
7 Max Heath (San)
5 Zak Jones (San)
1 Jack Bytel (San)
1 Mitch Owens (San)

Collingwood 12.7 (79) lost to GWS 14.12 (96)
10 Jarrod Brander (GWS)
7 James Peatling (GWS)
5 Josh Fahey (GWS)
3 Tyler Brown (Col)
3 Finlay Macrae (Col)
2 Kieran Briggs (GWS)

Carlton 11.6 (72) lost to Richmond 15.7 (97)
7 Sydney Stack (Ric)
6 Jake Aarts (Ric)
5 Kane Lambert (Ric)
5 Ivan Soldo (Ric)
4 Will Hayes (Car)
3 Rhyan Mansell (Ric)

Sydney 13.7 (85) lost to Northern Bullants 15.14 (104)
9 Jackson Barling (NB)
9 Tom Wilson (NB)
3 Jack Boyd (NB)
3 Ryan Clarke (Syd)
3 Lewis Taylor (Syd)
2 Kyle Dunkley (NB)
1 Jean-Luc Velissaris (NB)

Casey Demons 13.12 (90) def Coburg 8.7 (55)
8 Jake Melksham (Cas)
8 Mitch White (Cas)
5 Adam Tomlinson (Cas)
3 Toby Bedford (Cas)
3 Jack Maibaum (Cob)
2 Mitch Podhajski (Cob)
1 Luke Dunstan (Cas)

Port Melbourne 21.10 (136) def Essendon 17.9 (111)
10 Eli Templeton (PM)
7 Archi Manton (PM)
5 Anthony Anastasio (PM)
4 Kaine Baldwin (Ess)
2 Marcus Lentini (PM)
1 Will Golds (Ess)
1 Corey Wagner (PM)

Box Hill Hawks, Brisbane Lions, Frankston bye

SMITHY’S VFL COACHES PLAYER OF THE YEAR LEADERBOARD

30 Jacob Dawson (Sou) 7
19 Jarrod Brander (GWS) 10
19 Callum Brown (Col) 0
19 Will Hayes (Car) 4
19 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) 6
18 Paddy Dow (Car) 0
18 Tom Wilson (NB) 9
16 Ryan Clarke (Syd) 3
16 Oliver Dempsey (Gee) 0
16 Jack Newnes (Car) 0

FROSTY MILLER MEDAL LEADING GOALKICKER

16 Jacob Townsend (Sou) 1
12 Chris Burgess (GC) 6
12 Joel Ottavi (Wil) 2
11 Ben Crocker (Car) 2
10 Mitch Brown (Cas) 2
9 Kaine Baldwin (Ess) 5
9 Sam Day (GC) 2
9 Sam Fowler (Col) 1
9 Kai Lohmann (BL) 0
8 Fergus Greene (Box) 0
8 Shannon Neale (Gee) 1
8 Mitch White (Cas) 1

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 4 RECORDS

(Figures in brackets are the previous record)

• 11.6 72 Carlton's lowest score v Richmond at Princes Park (12.15, 1886)
• 15.11 101 Gold Coast's highest score v Sandringham (14.15 99, 2010)
• 21.10 136 Port Melbourne's highest score v Essendon (19.10 124, 2001, all venues; 14.13 97, 2001, Nth Port)
• 15.7 97 Richmond's highest score v Carlton (10.16 76, 2000)
• 16.13 109 Sandringham's highest score v Gold Coast (11.7 73, 2010)

SMITHY’S VFL MILESTONES

• Gold Coast played its 200th NEAFL/VFL match (83-115-2)
• Richmond played its 150th match in the VFL era (77-70-3)
• Richmond recorded its 100th VFA/VFL away win (100-153-10)

• Jake Aarts (Richmond/Bendigo) 100 VFL matches/72 goals
• Mitch Brown (Casey Demons/Essendon/Sandringham/Geelong) 100 VFL matches/147 goals
• Will Hayes (Carlton/Footscray) 100 VFL matches/65 goals

• Oskar Baker (Casey Demons/Brisbane Lions/Aspley) 50 NEAFL-VFL matches/36 goals
• Jack Henderson (Werribee) 50 VFL matches/28 goals
• Marty Hore (North Melbourne/Casey Demons/Collingwood) 50 VFL matches/1 goal
• Paul Hunter (Port Melbourne/Sandringham/Redland) 50 NEAFL-VFL matches/19 goals
• Josh Iacobaccio (Essendon/Coburg) 50 VFL matches/7 goals
• Marcus Lentini (Port Melbourne/Coburg) 50 VFL matches/23 goals
• Goy Lok (Sandringham/Frankston/Casey Demons) 50 VFL matches/25 goals
• Jack Maibaum (Coburg/Sydney) 50 NEAFL-VFL matches/2 goals
• Harry Morrison (Sydney/Sturt/Sydney Uni/GWS) 50 State League matches/59 goals

• Richmond defeated Carlton for the first time since September 19, 1896, at Richmond City Reserve
• Casey Demons defeated Coburg for the ninth time in a row (last loss August 24, 2014)
• Casey Demons moved ahead v Coburg head-to-head in home matches (12-11)
• Collingwood v GWS happened for the first time (0-1)
• Collingwood squared its head-to-head in the VFL era (131-131)
• GWS moved ahead in its head-to-head away (37-36-1) and squared it in the VFL (3-3)
• North Melbourne squared its head-to-head v Footscray (41-41-2)
• Port Melbourne squared its head-to-head home record v Essendon (7-7) and moved ahead in the VFL era (4-3)
• Richmond defeated Carlton at Princes Park for the first time (1-1)
• Richmond squared its head-to-head v Carlton away (3-3) and in the VFL era (1-1)
• Sandringham defeated Gold Coast for the first time (1-1)
• Southport v Geelong happened for the first time (1-0)
• Sydney v Northern Bullants happened for the first time (0-1)
• Werribee moved ahead v Williamstown head-to-head at Williamstown (19-18)

SMITHY’S VFL DEBUTS

(Round 4 total: 11. Season total: 141. NEAFL games counted)

• Casey Demons (total 9): Ryan Koo Kwet Kim
• Coburg (4): Trent Warren
• Collingwood (6): Nil
• Essendon (14): Harrison Jones, Tex Wanganeen
• Northern Bullants (6): Andrew Courtney, Sean Martin
• Port Melbourne (7): Lachie Modica
• Richmond (8): Nick Guiney
• Sandringham (10): Oliver Lowe, Blake Watson
• Southport (1): Jay Foon

SMITHY’S VFL FIRST GOAL

(Round 4 total: 16. Season total: 94. NEAFL goals counted)

• Carlton (5): Brodie Kemp (9^th match)
• Coburg (1): Dylan Thomas (2^nd)
• Collingwood (4): Isaac Chugg (13^th)
• Essendon (9): Cooper Anderson (3^rd), Harrison Jones (1^st), Tex Wanganeen (1^st)
• Footscray (5): Austin Hodge (10^th)
• Port Melbourne (6): Will Reinhold (4^th)
• Sandringham (8): Matt Allison (13^th), Oliver Lowe (1^st), Blake Watson (1^st)
• Southport (2): Jay Foon (1^st)
• Sydney (7): Max Geddes (14^th), Izaac Hughes (2^nd), Barry O'Connor (10^th), Felix Rogers (2^nd)

All Smithy’s VFL matches in 2022 will be live streamed free. The match of the round will be screened on Channel 7 and 7Plus, while all other matches will be live and available on demand via afl.com.au and the AFL Live Official App. Radio station 3WBC 94.1 also broadcasts Box Hill Hawks matches.
To access live scores, results, ladder, stats and to link to live streams/replays, download the VFL/W Official App from the Apple or Google Play app stores.