The 2021 Magarey Medal has been shared between two players after the Panthers’ Bryce Gibbs and the Eagles’ James Tsitas each received 21 votes.
Key points:
- Bryce Gibbs had a stand-out year after returning to the SANFL from the AFL
- James Tsitas, in his second year of SANFL, said he planned to stick around for another season
- Just one vote separated the top four in the Magarey Medal leaderboard
Gibbs starred during his first full SANFL season in 15 years after his 2020 departure from AFL, having played for Glenelg before he was drafted to Carlton Football Club in 2006.
He resigned from the Adelaide Crows AFL side in 2020 but made his intent clear from round one of the 2021 SANFL season when he registered 36 disposals for South Adelaide against the Crows reserve side.
“My last couple of years in the AFL probably didn’t go the way I planned,” Gibbs said after receiving the Magarey Medal on Monday night.
“But I still felt I had a lot of good footy left in me, and to come back to the SANFL, which really kickstarted my career, was something I wanted to do.
Supplied: Nick Hook via South Adelaide FC
)Embracing SA football
Tsitas is the first Eagles player to win a Magarey Medal since the club formed from a merger of Woodville and West Torrens in 1991.
He only joined the SANFL in 2020 after being one of several footballers who left Victoria that year when the VFL season was abandoned due to COVID-19.
He said he could not imagine going six months without playing football and “doing nothing”.
“I went through my phone and thankfully, (Woodville-West Torrens chief executive officer) Luke Powell had tried to recruit me a couple of years ago,” Tsitas said.
“The next day there was an exemption to cross the border and within a week I was in quarantine in North Adelaide.”
Supplied: Woodville-West Torrens FC
)Woodville-West Torrens went on to win the flag in 2020 and, with a place in another grand final this weekend against Glenelg, Tsitas said he planned to stick around for another year.
“It’s a fantastic club, the best club I’ve been a part of, and (coach) Jade Sheedy leads it really well.”
The ceremony for the league’s fairest and most brilliant individual player returned to Adelaide Oval last night after last year’s event had to be held online.
A tight leaderboard
The Magarey Medal leaderboard was tight during this year’s vote count.
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Coming equal in second place with 20 votes each from the league’s umpires were the Eagles’ Jack Hayes and Glenelg’s Matthew Snook.
Last year’s Magarey Medal winner Campbell Combe was awarded the RO Shearman Medal, with the Roosters midfielder receiving 77 votes from the SANFL coaches’ for best player.
Luke Partingon, the 2019 Magarey Medal winner, was runner-up with 75 votes.
Both Partington and Combe were equal third in this year’s Magarey count with 17 votes each.
Supplied: SANFL
)McBean still kicking
The Ken Farmer Medal for the most goals during the minor season was handed to Glenelg’s Liam McBean for the third year in a row after he kicked 51 goals.
It follows his shared award in 2020 with Woodville-West Torrens’ James Rowe when they each kicked 38 goals.
“It’s a massive honour to come here, and not be from SA, but get an understanding of the rich history of the league and now be a part of that,” McBean said.
Supplied: SANFL
)The Breakthrough Player award was handed to Sturt midfielder Tom Lewis, 21, who averaged 22 disposals, six clearances and 10 tackles per game.
Earlier in the evening, Glenelg’s Hugh Stagg received the McCallum Tomkins Medal for the fairest and most brilliant player in the under-18s with 28 votes, while Ed Allen from West Adelaide received the Reserves Magarey Medal.
Woodville-West Torrens will play Glenelg in the grand final on Sunday.
The season decider will be played at Adelaide Oval, where SA Health has allowed a maximum crowd of 26,500.
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
