BEAST Mode continues to close the gap as Rhys Mathieson’s amazing 49-disposal game against the Northern Bullants earned maximum votes as six players polled perfect scores in the Smithy’s VFL Coaches Player of the Year award across the seven games at the weekend.

Brisbane Lions’ star Mathieson paired his cricket score disposal count with 19 clearances, nine marks and nine inside-50s to pick up another perfect 10 votes and cut the deficit to runaway leader Jacob Dawson to just nine votes – the closest the leaderboard has been all season.

Sydney ball magnet Lewis Taylor also made a move up the leaderboard, climbing into fourth spot after polling six votes for his 40 possessions, seven marks and five rebounds in the Swans’ loss to Casey Demons at the MCG, while teammate Ryan Clarke also returned to the top 10 with five votes after 33 touches, 11 marks and 10 tackles.

Big goals brought big votes, with Chris Burgess’ seven majors for Gold Coast and Josh Schache’s five for Footscray both worth 10 coaches votes, while Collingwood’s Matt Wetering picked up his first vote for five goals against the Suns.

Three other players also produced perfect games, two of them bringing votes for the first time – Box Hill Hawk Finn Maginness (35 disposals, seven marks, one goal) against North Melbourne, Coburg’s Nathan Boucher (27 disposals, five marks, seven clearances, five inside-50s, five tackles, two goals) and Port Melbourne star Harvey Hooper (21 disposals, seven clearances, six entries, seven tackles).

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 nine new players attracted the coaches’ attention in Round 11, making it 347 to have polled so far this season.

ROUND 11 VOTES

Brisbane Lions 13.15 (93) def Northern Bullants 4.7 (31)
10 Rhys Mathieson (BL)
7 Mitch Robinson (BL)
7 Ely Smith (BL)
2 Tom Berry (BL)
2 Carter Michael (BL)
2 James Tunstill (BL)

Footscray 8.11 (59) def Geelong 7.12 (54)
10 Josh Schache (Foo)
7 Hayden Crozier (Foo)
5 Jye Chalcraft (Gee)
5 Francis Evans (Gee)
2 Lachie Sullivan (Foo)
1 Bailey vander Heuvel (Foo)

Casey Demons 12.11 (83) def Sydney 6.8 (44)
6 Lewis Taylor (Syd)
5 Ryan Clarke (Syd)
5 Luke Dunstan (Cas)
4 Jimmy Munro (Cas)
4 Trent Rivers (Cas)
2 Corey Ellison (Cas)
2 Mitch White (Cas)
1 Oskar Baker (Cas)
1 Will Gould (Syd)

Collingwood 15.7 (97) lost to Gold Coast 18.9 (117)
10 Chris Burgess (GC)
8 Jack Bowes (GC)
4 Brayden Fiorini (GC)
3 Trent Bianco (Col)
3 Sam Flanders (GC)
1 Campbell Hustwaite (Col)
1 Matt Wetering (Col)

Coburg 11.7 (73) def Frankston 6.14 (50)
10 Nathan Boucher (Cob)
6 Jack Maibaum (Cob)
4 Tom Silvestro (Cob)
3 Josh Begley (Fra)
3 Joe Lloyd (Fra)
2 Braedyn Gillard (Cob)
2 Nathan Freeman (Fra)

North Melbourne 4.12 (36) lost to Box Hill Hawks 15.17 (107)
10 Finn Maginness (Box)
7 Ben Cavarra (Box)
4 Marty Hore (NM)
4 James Worpel (Box)
3 Damian Mascitti (Box)
2 James Parsons (Box)

Port Melbourne 10.9 (69) def Williamstown 6.14 (50)
10 Harvey Hooper (PM)
7 Ethan Phillips (PM)
5 Liam Hunt (Wil)
4 Brayden Monk (Wil)
3 Jackson Weidemann (PM)
1 Nick Mellington (Wil)

Carlton, Essendon, GWS, Richmond, Sandringham, Southport, Werribee bye

SMITHY’S VFL COACHES PLAYER OF THE YEAR LEADERBOARD

66 Jacob Dawson (Sou) bye
57 Rhys Mathieson (BL) 10
45 Paddy Dow (Car) bye
38 Lewis Taylor (Syd) 6
38 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) bye
36 Lachie Sullivan (Foo) 2
31 Ryan Clarke (Syd) 5
30 Luke Dunstan (Cas) 5
30 Will Hayes (Car) bye
30 Mitch White (Cas) 2

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.
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.