SOUTHPORT gun Boyd Woodcock is emerging as the biggest danger to teammate Jacob Dawson’s dominance of the Smithy’s VFL Coaches Player of the Year after surging into second spot with his second consecutive 10-vote game on Sunday.

Former Port Adelaide player Woodcock was unstoppable in the Sharks’ 68-point win over Northern Bullants at Genis Steel Oval, winning 36 disposals, nine marks and nine clearances as well as kicking two goals to tip out teammate Billy Gowers, who polled eight votes for his 20 possessions, six marks and four goals.

Dawson stretched his lead back to 20 by earning 24 disposals to pick up another four, with previous second-placed Brisbane Lions star Rhys Mathieson sitting out the bye.

Two other players received the perfect 10 votes from the coaches for their performances – Gold Coast’s Rory Atkins, who bounced back to form with 38 touches, 11 marks, five inside-50s and 10 rebounds in the Suns’ big win over GWS at Metricon Stadium, and Richmond’s Jack Ross, who dominated the victory over Coburg with 34 disposals, seven marks, eight clearances and seven inside-50s.

The other mover in the top 10 was Sydney’s Ryan Clarke, whose seven votes against Williamstown lifted him into a share of sixth alongside teammate Lewis Taylor, but their combined tally of 76 is still below Dawson’s 78.

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 10 new players attracted the coaches’ attention in Round 13, making it 364 to have polled so far this season.

ROUND 13 VOTES

Carlton 11.9 (75) def Footscray 8.8 (56)
8 Lachie Fogarty (Car)
7 Ben Crocker (Car)
5 Will Setterfield (Car)
4 Riley Garcia (Foo)
4 Josh Honey (Car)
1 Hayden Crozier (Foo)
1 Paddy Dow (Car)

Werribee 16.16 (112) def Geelong 7.7 (49)
8 Matt Hanson (Wer)
7 Ollie Hanrahan (Wer)
7 Shaun Mannagh (Wer)
4 Max Holmes (Gee)
2 Sam Conway (Wer)
1 Jye Chalcraft (Gee)
1 Tom Gribble (Wer)

Sandringham 13.12 (90) lost to Essendon 15.14 (104)
8 Marcus Windhager (San)
7 Kaine Baldwin (Ess)
4 Billy Cootee (Ess)
4 Tom Cutler (Ess)
3 Darragh Joyce (San)
2 Tom Campbell (San)
1 Joe Atley (Ess)
1 Brad Bernacki (Ess)

Sydney 24.17 (161) def Williamstown 7.8 (50)
7 Ryan Clarke (Syd)
6 Joel Amartey (Syd)
6 Hugo Hall-Kahan (Syd)
5 Tom Hickey (Syd)
3 Corey Preston (Wil)
2 Robbie Fox (Syd)
1 Will Gould (Syd)

Gold Coast 18.11 (119) def GWS 9.9 (63)
10 Rory Atkins (GC)
6 Chris Burgess (GC)
4 Brayden Fiorini (GC)
4 Jeremy Sharp (GC)
3 Hewago Paul Oea (GC)
2 Rory Thompson (GC)
1 Tim Taranto (GWS)

Northern Bullants 10.6 (66) lost to Southport 20.14 (134)
10 Boyd Woodcock (Sou)
8 Billy Gowers (Sou)
4 Jacob Dawson (Sou)
3 Matt Gahan (Sou)
2 Mike Manteit (Sou)
2 Fraser Thurlow (Sou)
1 Liam Podhajski (NB)

Coburg 7.10 (52) lost to Richmond 15.14 (104)
10 Jack Ross (Ric)
6 Jake Aarts (Ric)
4 Riley Collier-Dawkins (Ric)
4 Ivan Soldo (Ric)
3 Flynn Gentile (Cob)
2 Will Martyn (Ric)
1 Matthew Parker (Ric)

Box Hill Hawks, Brisbane Lions, Casey Demons, Collingwood, Frankston, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne bye

SMITHY’S VFL COACHES PLAYER OF THE YEAR LEADERBOARD

78 Jacob Dawson (Sou) 4
58 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) 10
57 Rhys Mathieson (BL) bye
52 Paddy Dow (Car) 1
40 Luke Dunstan (Cas) bye
38 Ryan Clarke (Syd) 7
38 Lewis Taylor (Syd) 0
36 Lachie Sullivan (Foo) 0
33 Tom Berry (BL) bye
32 Jarrod Brander (GWS) dnp

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.