ANOTHER week, another lead extension for Southport champion Jacob Dawson.

Dawson shook off tags from Jimmy Munro and then Jake Melksham to finish with 28 disposals, 15 clearances, five inside-50s, six tackles and a goal in the Sharks’ comfortable defeat at the hands of the undefeated Demons, polling eight votes to move to an amazing 47 out of a possible 60 in the six matches he has played.

He is still being chased by Carlton’s Paddy Dow, who gathered 33 possessions, nine clearances, five tackles and two goals to land nine votes as equal best-on-ground despite the Blues’ last-quarter collapse against Frankston, with Will Fordham’s 27 touches, seven clearances, 11 tackles and three goals also grabbing nine votes to move him into the top 10 for the first time.

Rhys Mathieson (39 disposals, seven marks, eight clearances, seven inside-50s, one goal) also polled nine votes for the Brisbane Lions against Coburg to climb to 30 and a share of third alongside Will Hayes, while Casey Demons full-forward Mitch Brown is also in the top 10 after his 12 marks and five goals were rewarded with his second 10-vote haul of the season.

Sandringham’s Tom Highmore (29 disposals, nine marks, nine rebounds) received a perfect 10 votes in the Zebras’ win over Northern Bullants, as did Williamstown defender Teia Miles (31 possessions, 10 marks, 12 rebounds) as the Seagulls broke through for their first win of the year against Gold Coast, while Geelong’s Luke Dahlhaus (27, five clearances, six inside-50s) made a bid for an AFL recall with nine votes against North Melbourne.

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 27 new players attracted the coaches’ attention in Round 7, making it 276 to have polled so far this season.

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

ROUND 7 VOTES

Brisbane Lions 16.13 (109) def Coburg 5.14 (44)
9 Rhys Mathieson (BL)
8 Mitch Robinson (BL)
5 Will Ashcroft (BL)
4 Deven Robertson (BL)
3 Carter Michael (BL)
1 Kalin Lane (BL)

Port Melbourne 12.15 (87) lost to Richmond 19.10 (124)
7 Jack Ross (Ric)
6 Ethan Phillips (PM)
5 Will Martyn (Ric)
4 Sam Banks (Ric)
4 Sam Tucker (Ric)
2 Matt Signorello (PM)
1 Thomson Dow (Ric)
1 Tylar Young (Ric)

Werribee 4.8 (32) lost to Sydney 16.6 (102)
7 James Bell (Syd)
5 Joel Amartey (Syd)
5 Lewis Taylor (Syd)
4 Will Gould (Syd)
4 Tom Hickey (Syd)
3 Dylan Stephens (Syd)
2 Colin O’Riordan (Syd)

Sandringham 12.8 (80) def Northern Bullants 6.14 (50)
10 Tom Highmore (San)
8 Tom Campbell (San)
3 Jarrod Lienert (San)
3 Mitch Owens (San)
2 Jackson Barling (NB)
2 Jack Billings (San)
1 Jack Boyd (NB)
1 Jean-Luc Velissaris (NB)

Williamstown 12.9 (81) def Gold Coast 9.17 (71)
10 Teia Miles (Wil)
5 Charlie Constable (GC)
4 Sam Flanders (GC)
3 Brayden Monk (Wil)
3 Ned Moyle (GC)
2 Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds (Wil)
2 Joel Ottavi (Wil)
1 Liam Hunt (Wil)

North Melbourne 8.10 (58) lost to Geelong 10.17 (77)
9 Luke Dahlhaus (Gee)
7 Marty Hore (NM)
7 Jackson McLachlan (Gee)
4 Jye Chalcraft (Gee)
2 Dom Tyson (NM)
1 Charlie Comben (NM)

Frankston 13.8 (86) def Carlton 12.7 (79)
9 Paddy Dow (Car)
9 Will Fordham (Fra)
5 Lachie Fogarty (Car)
3 Liam Reidy (Fra)
2 Sam Fletcher (Fra)
1 Alex Mirkov (Car)
1 Stefan Radovanovic (Car)

Casey Demons 13.11 (89) def Southport 8.11 (59)
10 Mitch Brown (Cas)
8 Jacob Dawson (Sou)
6 Kade Chandler (Cas)
2 Andy Moniz-Wakefield (Cas)
2 Fraser Thurlow (Sou)
1 Adam Tomlinson (Cas)
1 Mitch White (Cas)

Essendon 9.8 (62) lost to Box Hill Hawks 23.18 (156)
8 Dan Howe (Box)
8 Callum Porter (Box)
8 Liam Shiels (Box)
2 Fergus Greene (Box)
2 Josh Morris (Box)
1 Sam Butler (Box)
1 Damian Mascitti (Box)

Collingwood, Footscray, GWS bye

SMITHY’S VFL COACHES PLAYER OF THE YEAR LEADERBOARD

47 Jacob Dawson (Sou) 8
37 Paddy Dow (Car) 9
30 Will Hayes (Car) 0
30 Rhys Mathieson (BL) 9
27 Mitch White (Cas) 1
22 Jarrod Brander (GWS) bye
22 Ryan Clarke (Syd) dnp
21 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) 0
20 Mitch Brown (Cas) 10
20 Josh Fahey (GWS) bye
20 Will Fordham (Fra) 9

All Smithy’s VFL matches in 2022 are live streamed free. The match of the round is screened on Channel 7 and 7Plus, while all other matches are 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.