RHYS Mathieson has moved into second spot in the Smithy’s VFL Coaches Player of the Year award after polling seven votes in the Brisbane Lions’ loss to Southport at Austworld Centre on Saturday.

Mathieson topped the stats sheet with 37 disposals and five marks for the Lions, taking him to 47 votes, two ahead of Carlton’s Paddy Dow, who played in the Blues’ AFL loss to Collingwood at the MCG instead of the VFL win over Northern Bullants.

Leader Jacob Dawson was once again best-on-ground, picking up nine votes for the Sharks after winning 34 possessions and kicking two goals to race to 66 after just 10 rounds, 19 votes clear of Mathieson.

Sydney’s Lewis Taylor was the big mover, winning 10 votes for his 38-disposal domination against Richmond to move to sixth spot on 32 votes, while Footscray young gun Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was rewarded with a perfect score for his six goals against Williamstown, Dan Butler did the same after kicking five goals for Sandringham against North Melbourne and Geelong’s Jye Chalcraft grabbed the 10 for 28 disposals, six marks and a goal against GWS.

Dawson’s nine votes were matched by Gold Coast’s season debutant Brayden Fiorini (40 disposals, six marks, two goals in a losing team against Box Hill Hawks), Werribee full forward Hudson Garoni (seven marks, five goals against Collingwood) and Casey Demons defender Adam Tomlinson (28 disposals, eight marks against Frankston).

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 28 new players attracted the coaches’ attention in Round 10, making it 338 to have polled so far this season.

Meanwhile, Essendon forward Aaron Francis will miss the Bombers' Round 12 clash with Carlton at Windy Hill after accepting a one-match suspension for striking Coburg ruckman Adam Swierzbiolek in the last quarter of the Bombers' breakthrough one-point win at the same venue on Sunday.

Francis would have missed two games if he had fought the charge and lost, with the incident having been assessed as intentional conduct, with low impact and high contact, but will be unavailable for two AFL matches given Essendon's VFL team has a bye this week.

Sydney defender Will Gould was the only other player cited in Round 10, accepting a reprimand for rough conduct (careless conduct, low impact, body contact) on Jake Aarts during the first quarter of the Swans' four-point win over Richmond at Lakeside Oval on Friday.

ROUND 10 VOTES

Sydney 9.19 (73) def Richmond 10.9 (69)
10 Lewis Taylor (Syd)
6 Dylan Stephens (Syd)
4 Bigoa Nyuon (Ric)
3 Will Gould (Syd)
3 Ben Miller (Ric)
2 Joel Amartey (Syd)
1 Ryan Clarke (Syd)
1 Will Martyn (Ric)

Southport 16.12 (108) def Brisbane Lions 10.12 (72)
9 Jacob Dawson (Sou)
7 Rhys Mathieson (BL)
6 Billy Gowers (Sou)
3 Jay Lockhart (Sou)
3 Boyd Woodcock (Sou)
1 Mike Manteit (Sou)
1 Ely Smith (BL)

Williamstown 8.7 (55) lost to Footscray 19.7 (121)
10 Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Foo)
6 Lachie Sullivan (Foo)
4 Joel Garner (Foo)
4 Nick Mellington (Wil)
2 Louis Butler (Foo)
2 Tom Downie (Wil)
1 Josh Schache (Foo)
1 Mitch Wallis (Foo)

Gold Coast 13.11 (89) lost to Box Hill Hawks 17.9 (111)
9 Brayden Fiorini (GC)
5 Damian Mascitti (Box)
5 James Parsons (Box)
4 Ben Cavarra (Box)
4 Jackson Callow (Box)
2 Jack Bowes (GC)
1 Sam Flanders (GC)

Essendon 12.14 (86) def Coburg 13.7 (85)
7 James Stewart (Ess)
6 Tom Cutler (Ess)
6 Braedyn Gillard (Cob)
5 Nick Bryan (Ess)
5 Sam Lowson (Cob)
1 Harry Nolan (Cob)

Werribee 16.13 (109) def Collingwood 8.6 (54)
9 Hudson Garoni (Wer)
7 Kye Declase (Wer)
4 Bior Malual (Wer)
3 Aiden Begg (Col)
3 Shaun Mannagh (Wer)
2 Sam Conway (Wer)
1 Isaac Chugg (Col)
1 Jack Henderson (Wer)

Geelong 12.14 (86) def GWS 8.8 (56)
10 Jye Chalcraft (Gee)
7 Luke Dahlhaus (Gee)
5 Callum Brown (GWS)
5 Ben Lloyd (Gee)
2 Jake Stein (GWS)
1 Ryan Hebron (GWS)

Northern Bullants 13.6 (84) lost to Carlton 13.15 (93)
8 Ben Crocker (Car)
5 Alex Cincotta (Car)
4 Will Mitchell (NB)
4 Tom Williamson (Car)
3 Tom Wilson (NB)
2 Will Setterfield (Car)
2 Jean-Luc Velissaris (NB)
1 Jordan Boyd (Car)
1 Sam Philp (Car)

Frankston 6.12 (48) lost to Casey Demons 10.6 (66)
9 Adam Tomlinson (Cas)
5 Ryley Stoddart (Fra)
5 Daniel Turner (Cas)
4 Jimmy Munro (Cas)
3 Corey Ellison (Cas)
3 Nathan Freeman (Fra)
1 Max Williams (Fra)

Sandringham 16.10 (106) def North Melbourne 11.6 (72)
10 Dan Butler (San)
8 Tom Campbell (San)
4 Dom Tyson (NM)
4 Blake Watson (San)
3 Jarryn Geary (San)
1 Marty Hore (NM)

Port Melbourne bye

SMITHY’S VFL COACHES PLAYER OF THE YEAR LEADERBOARD

66 Jacob Dawson (Sou) 9
47 Rhys Mathieson (BL) 7
45 Paddy Dow (Car) 8
38 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) 3
34 Lachie Sullivan (Foo) 6
32 Lewis Taylor (Syd) 10
30 Will Hayes (Car) dnp
29 Will Fordham (Fra) 0
28 Mitch White (Cas) 0
28 Tom Wilson (NB) 3

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

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.
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