Liam Anthony claims Lynn Medal for first timeSunday, October 9, 2016 - 6:33 PM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle's first WAFL season under new coach Rob Wiley didn’t go to plan but Liam Anthony couldn’t have done more to try and get the Sharks back into the finals and was rewarded with the Lynn Medal on Friday night.

Anthony took out East Fremantle's fairest and best award in a thrilling vote count with him claiming the Lynn Medal by receiving six votes in the final round to overtake the leader George Hampson who was absent due to a hamstring injury.

Hampson's absence didn’t help East Fremantle's cause in attempting to beat East Perth but it was good news for Anthony who picked up 34 possessions in the game. That was enough for him to cap off a strong and consistent season with the Sharks to win his first Lynn Medal.

East Fremantle reflected on its 2016 season on Friday night for the Lynn Medal dinner with the Sharks missing out on playing finals in the league and colts while the reserves did make it and beat Subiaco and South Fremantle before going down to Claremont in the preliminary final.

The Sharks had a new league coach in Wiley in 2016 having missed the finals in 2015 following a preliminary final appearance in 2014. They remained a chance to claim fifth position right up until the final round as well but a loss to East Perth ended those hopes.

But it wasn’t without some outstanding individual performances through the season for East Fremantle led by Anthony who ended up winning the Lynn Medal thanks to his performance in that final round defeat to East Perth in the absence of Hampson.

It capped a tremendous season for Anthony who averaged 26.4 possessions a game as his consistency in the midfield was a strong source of East Fremantle's drive through that area.

Anthony began his league career at East Fremantle back in 2006 as a skilful half-forward but by 2008 he turned himself into a hard-running damaging wingman and that saw him drafted into the AFL by North Melbourne.

He went on to play 58 matches with the Kangaroos before returning to East Fremantle in 2015 and ever since he has cemented himself as much more of an inside midfielder capable of winning the ball in close, but also being damaging on the outside with his run and kicking skills.

That ability to perform strongly and consistently through the midfield saw him win the Lynn Medal after finishing seventh in 2015 on his return to the Sharks.

Hampson finished runner-up in the Lynn Medal in his second season with East Fremantle following the 2014 premiership with Subiaco.

His 2015 ended prematurely due to a knee reconstruction and again in 2016 he was limited to 14 matches having missed four games with a knee complaint and then the last two matches of the season with a hamstring strain.

However, in the 14 matches he did play Hampson was outstanding and proved himself one of the best pure match-winners in the WAFL for his ability to kick goals and drive the ball inside-50 from half-forward, but also to go in the middle and rack up plenty of possessions.

Hampson had a remarkable purple patch for a month between Rounds 7 and 10 during East Fremantle's four-game winning run where he was best on ground or close to it in all of them.

But in the end he was on track to win his first Lynn Medal and second club fairest and best award before his hamstring injury cost him playing in the final two games of the season.

Cameron Eardley also had a solid season in the midfield for East Fremantle to come third in Lynn Medal voting ahead of the returning Jesse Crichton. Last year's winner Brock O'Brien finished fifth despite playing just 17 games.

Meanwhile, James Harrold claimed Barry O'Donnell Memorial Award as Best First Year Player, Dylan Winton the Trevor Sprigg Memorial Award as the Patrons Rising Star and Tim Bristow the Bendigo Bank Community Award.

Brett Peake kicked 40 goals to take out the Bob Johnson Medal as Leading Goalkicker while Jordan Dorotich was named Best Clubman having missed the season through a knee injury.

East Fremantle's reserves were the only side to make finals in 2016 going all the way to the preliminary final with Jesse Adamini claiming the Henry Jeffery Medal as fairest and best winner.

He won ahead of Tom Hooker, Matthew Bannister, Jake Schleicher and Jacob Green while Hooker was also named Player of the Finals.

Matthew Burton took out the colts fairest and best award for 2016 winning the Allan Trott Medal ahead of Corey Holmes, Peter Delaney, Dylan Campbell and James Valentine.

Campbell also claimed the Best First Year Player award with Ben Harding named the Most Dedicated Player to win the Pud Beasley Memorial Award.

Delaney also won Best One Percenter Award to claim the Dermer Memorial Award while Aiden Wainwright took out the Past Players & Officials Encouragement Award.

Meanwhile, Charlie Ricciardo was named the Best Clubman for 2016 being presented the Bob Fairclough Memorial Award.

LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
Lynn Medal Winner (Fairest and Best): Liam Anthony
Runner-up Fairest and Best: George Hampson
Third-place Fairest and Best: Cameron Eardley
Fourth-place Fairest and Best: Jesse Crichton
Fifth-place Fairest and Best: Brock O'Brien
Best First Year Player: James Harrold
Patrons Rising Star: Dylan Winton
Leading Goalkicker: Brett Peake
Best Clubman: Jordan Dorotich
Bendigo Bank Community Award: Tim Bristow

RESERVES AWARD WINNERS
Henry Jeffery Medal (Fairest and Best): Jesse Adamini
Runner-up Fairest and Best: Tom Hooker
Third-place Fairest and Best: Matthew Bannister
Fourth-place Fairest and Best: Jake Schleicher
Fifth-place Fairest and Best: Jacob Green
Player of the Finals: Tom Hooker

COLTS AWARD WINNERS
Allan Trott Medal (Fairest and Best): Matthew Burton
Runner-up Fairest and Best: Corey Holmes
Third-place Fairest and Best: Peter Delaney
Fourth-place Fairest and Best: Dylan Campbell
Fifth-place Fairest and Best: James Valentine
Best First Year Player: Dylan Campbell
Most Dedicated Player: Ben Harding
One Percenter Award: Peter Delaney
Past Players & Officials Encouragement Award: Aiden Wainwright