Sandover Medallist Bolton excited for 2017 whether at Claremont or AFLWednesday, September 21, 2016 - 10:52 PM - by Chris Pike

A SANDOVER and Simpson Medal winning season could very well see Jye Bolton earn an AFL chance but if it doesn't he will be more than happy to remain at Claremont in 2017 under new coach Darren Harris.

Bolton arrived at Claremont at the start of 2016 having finished his 2015 season in the VFL sidelined with a foot injury that hadn't allowed him to do any pre-season training as yet.

Given the end result was a remarkable season that saw him average 29.1 possessions a game on his way to claiming the Sandover Medal for 2016 on Monday night on the back of earlier winning the state game Simpson Medal, it's a scary thought he did it all on the back of a limited preparation.

Claremont's Jye Bolton wins 2016 Sandover Medal 

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see an AFL club take a look at the 24-year-old's outstanding season and give him a chance in 2017, but if not Bolton is more than happy to remain at Claremont.

Claremont might have missed finals in 2016 winning just seven games but the Tigers were genuine chances to win another 10. The only three games the Tigers weren’t in with a shot of winning at some point in the last quarter were against grand finalists Subiaco and Peel Thunder.

Given the Tigers' season could so easily have been different, Bolton is excited for what 2017 could hold under a new coach in Harris who was in charge in the state game win over Tasmania and is a West Perth premiership captain and coach, and West Coast Eagles premiership assistant coach.

"I think with a full pre-season I can have more of a base behind me pre-Christmas so I can improve my running even more. The WAFL is a little different to the VFL so I'll work on some things that can improve my game even further," Bolton said.

"I'm really looking forward to next year. We had a very young list this year and that's why we might have lost some of our close games.

"I think if we had made finals we could have done some damage but if we can pick that up into next year and have a good pre-season together, and maybe get a couple of previous players back to the club then I think we can have a really good season next year and I love the club.

"The whole club made me feel so welcome from the players to the coaches to the support staff, the board and supporters. They all made me feel so welcome and I could not see myself going anywhere else unless I am lucky enough to get a chance in the AFL."

Bolton won the Sandover Medal on Monday night with 49 votes to be seven ahead of Peel Thunder's Matt de Boer and 10 in front of Perth's Clint Jones.

Jones was leading after 15 rounds but Bolton had a remarkable finish to the season averaging 35.3 disposals in his last seven games. He ended up polling 24 out of a possible 25 votes in his final five matches to take out WA football's most prestigious individual award.

Having already won the Simpson Medal after WA's state game win over Tasmania earlier in the year when he had 46 possessions and two goals, Bolton was honoured to take home the Sandover Medal but it's something he certainly wasn’t prepared for.

"I'm honoured for both awards, I really am. You never go into anything thinking you will win awards of that stature but I'm truly honoured to be able to be awarded with both of them," he said.

"To be honest I didn’t think I was going to win it so I hadn’t prepared any words at all as you could probably tell but straight away I was worrying about what I would say up there.

"But obviously also it was a great honour because people are telling some of the great names of people who have won it previously. To be up there with them now is amazing."

Bolton had previously received interest from WAFL clubs before making the decision to make the move for 2016.

His VFL club Werribee moving into a full alignment with North Melbourne meant that he felt the time was perfect because his opportunities might diminish there while a strong WAFL season had the potential to revive his chance of breaking into the AFL.

He has never regretted the move since.

"There were a few clubs in WA who had been trying to attract me over for a couple of years and that combined with my club back home Werribee going into a full alignment with North Melbourne made me think the timing was right," Bolton said.

"I thought it was also a good chance to come over to see what WA had to offer and to have another crack at hopefully putting my name forward to play at a higher level again. It's a great standard and there are so many good players in the WAFL.

"You look at the guys who were just behind me like Clint Jones and Matt de Boer who are obvious standouts, but Chris Phelan is really tough to play against and is a great player who contributes well to a team that goes well in Subiaco along with Leigh Kitchin and those type of guys.

"There's also Aaron Black, Shane Nelson and Jay van Berlo all at the one club, you have Liam Anthony and there are so many good players in the league."

All Bolton can now do is play the waiting game to see if he enters the AFL or not in 2017, but either way he will continue to work hard to improve his all-round game even further.

"Recruiters scrutinise your game inside and out throughout the year, but hopefully they've seen enough in me to say that in a full-time environment I could add something to their list," Bolton said.

"I would love the opportunity to be able to do that and hopefully they see something in me that's worth taking a chance on. Whether or not winning this contributes to that I don’t know.

"There were still a few things I was trying to work on. I had a bit of trouble with a couple of taggers early on but I think I overcame that in the back half of the season which I worked really hard to do. I would have liked to overcome that earlier and get a bit more consistency through my game as well.

"I'm always trying to work on different parts on my game including defensive pressure, kicking inside-50 and trying to get on the scoreboard more so I can contribute as much as I possibly can to give us the best chance of winning."

Lets take a look back at the 2016 Sandover Medal Night and hear from Claremont's Jye Bolton after he was awarded the prestigious medal.