THE Jim “Frosty” Miller Medal race is heating up after Box Hill Hawks key forward Fergus Greene closed the gap to leader Chris Burgess in his team’s remarkable come-from-behind victory over Werribee in the Smithy’s VFL on Saturday.

Greene snagged six goals in the Mustangs’ (Hawks) stunning win over the Tigers, including two of the four in the last 10 minutes as they came from 20 points down in time-on to win their 500th VFL-era match to reclaim the BeyondBlue Cup on the day they inducted their first 21 greats into the club’s new Hall of Fame.

It pulled him within one of Gold Coast spearhead Burgess before he responded with three majors in the Suns’ own remarkable escape from nine points down deep into time-on against Essendon, with the hauls making the Frosty a likely race in two with five rounds remaining.

It was also a round of low scores, with Northern Bullants recording their lowest score against Frankston, Geelong held to its worst score against Carlton at Princes Park and, despite winning, Southport kicking its lowest score against Sydney at Fankhauser Reserve.

Chris Burgess holds a four-goal lead in the Frosty Miller Medal with 41 goals. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images via AFL Photos

FROSTY MILLER MEDAL LEADING GOALKICKER

41 Chris Burgess (GC) 3
37 Fergus Greene (Box) 6
30 Ben Crocker (Car) 1
28 Ben Cavarra (Box) 1
28 Shannon Neale (Gee) 4
27 Joel Amartey (Syd) dnp
27 Jacob Townsend (Sou) 0
26 Mitch Brown (Cas) bye
26 Sam Day (GC) dnp
25 Sam Fowler (Col) 0

 

 

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 17 PLAYER MILESTONES

  • 50 VFL matches: Sam Durdin (Carlton/North Melbourne) 14 goals; Matthew Pongracic (umpire)
  • 50 NEAFL/VFL matches: Bailey Stewart (GWS/Sydney Uni/Sydney/Brisbane Lions)/22 goals (40 NEAFL/10 VFL)
  • 50 VFL goals: Josh Corbett (Gold Coast/Werribee)/25 matches
  • 50 NEAFL/VFL goals: Ben Ronke (Sydney) 34 matches (26 NEAFL/24 VFL)
  • 600 commentary matches: Brendan Rhodes (debut 1998)

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 17 CLUB MILESTONES

  • Box Hill Hawks played their 500th VFL match (268-225-7)
  • Sydney played its 150th VFA/VFL away match (77-49-24)
  • Box Hill Hawks squared its home record v Werribee overall (22-22) and in the VFL (10-10)
  • Box Hill Hawks broke a five-match losing streak v Werribee, winning for the first time since July 23, 2017
  • Brisbane Lions defeated GWS for the first time in the VFL (1-1)
  • Brisbane Lions took the lead in VFL away matches (6-5)
  • Carlton v Geelong happened for the first time in 20 years
  • Carlton squared its home record v Geelong (9-9-2) and took a VFL lead against the Cats at Princes Park (2-1)
  • Collingwood took the lead in its VFL away matches (63-62)
  • Essendon v Gold Coast happened for the first time (0-1)
  • GWS v Brisbane Lions happened for the first time at Blacktown International Sports Park in the VFL (0-1)
  • Richmond defeated North Melbourne at Arden St for the first time in the VFL era (1-1)
  • Southport v Sydney happened for the first time at Fankhauser Reserve in the VFL (1-0)
  • Southport increased its undefeated VFL record at Fankhauser Reserve to 11-0

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 17 RECORDS

(Figures in brackets are the previous record)

  • 9.5 59 Geelong's lowest score v Carlton at Princes Park (16.17 113, 2000)
  • 5.9 39 Northern Bullants' lowest score v Frankston (5.10 40, Preston City Oval, 1991; and 6.4 40, Frankston Park, 1998)
  • 9.12 66 Southport's lowest score v Sydney at Fankhauser Reserve (14.6 90, 2018 NEAFL Grand Final)
  • 6.8 44 Sydney's highest score v Southport at Fankhauser Reserve (5.5 35, 2018 NEAFL Grand Final)

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 17 DEBUTS

(Round 17 total: 10. Season total: 277. NEAFL games counted)

  • Carlton (9): Mitch Moschetti
  • Collingwood (17): Yuyu Ashwin
  • Essendon (22): Solly McKay
  • Frankston (11): Jimmy Cahill
  • Geelong (23): James Willis
  • Gold Coast (17): Lloyd Johnston
  • GWS (16): Noah Casalini
  • Northern Bullants (11): Ben Nikolovski, John Roumeliotis
  • Sandringham (14): Max Sinclair
Jackson Archer of the Kangaroos kicks the ball during the 2022 AFL Round 15 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Adelaide Crows at Blundstone Arena on June 26, 2022. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 17 FIRST GOALS

(Round 17 total: 9. Season total: 233. NEAFL goals counted)

  • Collingwood (14): Yuyu Ashwin (debut)
  • Essendon (20): Massimo D'Ambrosio (5th)
  • GWS (16): Noah Casalini (debut)
  • North Melbourne (14): Jackson Archer (11th), Sam Collins (9th)
  • Northern Bullants (9): Ben Nikolovski (debut), John Roumeliotis (debut)
  • Sandringham (11): Max Sinclair (debut)
  • Werribee (10): Darcy Cassar (2nd)

SMITHY’S VFL POSSIBLE ROUND 18 MILESTONES

  • 50 NEAFL/VFL home wins: Brisbane Lions (49-30-2)
  • 100 VFL matches: Nil
  • 100 NEAFL/VFL matches: Nil
  • 50 VFL matches: Nathan Drummond (Footscray/Richmond)
  • 50 NEAFL/VFL matches: Joel Amartey (Sydney); Sam Naismith (Sydney)
  • 100 VFL goals: Wylie Buzza (Brisbane Lions/Werribee/Geelong) needs 2; Fergus Greene (Box Hill Hawks/Footscray) needs 2; Billy Gowers (Southport/Footscray/Northern Bullants) needs 7; Corey Rich (Williamstown/Frankston) needs 9
  • 100 NEAFL/VFL goals: Billy Murphy (Northern Bullants/Aspley/Box Hill Hawks) needs 2; Mike Manteit (Southport/Sydney Uni/Sydney/Collingwood) needs 8
  • 50 VFL goals: Bayley Fritsch (Casey Demons) needs 4; Mitch Wooffindin (Port Melbourne) needs 4; Dan Butler (Sandringham/Richmond/North Ballarat) needs 5; Bailey Dale (Footscray) needs 5; Paddy McCartin (Sydney/Essendon/Sandringham) needs 5
  • 50 NEAFL/VFL goals: Hayden McLean (Sydney/Sandringham) needs 3; Sam Wicks (Sydney/Brisbane Lions) needs 5

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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