Sandover Medal PreviewMonday, September 15, 2014 - 5:12 PM - by Chris Pike

THE Sandover Medal for 2014 looks to have a host of potential winners with two players in the running to win the WAFL's most prestigious honour for a second time while a band of midfielders fresh off AFL lists sure to be among the top vote getters as well.

The 2011 Sandover Medal winner Luke Blackwell and last year's winner Rory O'Brien appear to be two players in the running to take out the award as the WAFL's fairest and best player for the second time, but there isn't a shortage of players that they will be contending with on the night.

The Sandover Medal count for 2014 will be held this Monday night in the Grand Ball Room at Crown Perth with the event broadcast live on radio via 91.3 SportFM from 6.30pm while it will be live streamed at www.thewest.com.au from 8.30pm.

While Blackwell and O'Brien are a chance to be dual winners, three midfielders fresh out of the AFL system in the form of South Fremantle's Haiden Schloithe, Subiaco's Kyal Horsley and East Fremantle's Bradd Dalziell are expected to be right in the running.

South Fremantle's Ashton Hams is another in his first year out of the AFL expected to poll well but he's ineligible after receiving a reprimand for an indiscretion during the season.

West Perth's prolific ball winning trio Shane Nelson, Aaron Black and Rohan Kerr, Swan Districts' pair Ryan Davis and Blaine Boekhorst, and East Perth trio Craig Wulff, Steven Payne and Brendan Lee are others who could poll well.

Blackwell has now announced that he has finished his WAFL career to move back to Melbourne next year, but there is every chance he will depart Claremont a two-time Sandover Medal winner.

The 27-year-old has had a remarkable season averaging almost 30 disposals a game and continuing to be a clearance machine, and the leader in the Tigers midfield who had a slow start to the year but finished on fire.

Blackwell didn’t have a game where he had fewer than 18 possessions all season and that was in a Round 1 thumping at the hands of Perth.

He had at least 25 disposals in the other 17 games he played, and had more than 30 touches on nine occasions.

Blackwell already won the Sandover Medal in 2011 and is a Simpson Medal winner, dual premiership player, premiership captain, four-time State representative and a three-time fairest and best winner with Claremont, and likely soon to be four.

O'Brien is the reigning Sandover Medal winner after a terrific 2013 season and in his first year as captain at East Fremantle, he has continued to be a driving force in the Sharks' midfield.

The 28-year-old has now been remarkably consistent over his 179-game career split between Peel and East Fremantle. He is a three-time fairest and best winner to go with being a Sandover Medallist and he has again had a strong 2014.

O'Brien averaged 29.3 possessions a game for the season and never once did he have few than 21 disposals. He had 30-plus on 10 occasions and obviously as a past winner, is a proven vote winner on Sandover Medal night.

Schloithe is in his first season full-time back with South Fremantle after two years as a rookie-listed player at Fremantle, and took his game to another level in the Bulldogs' midfield.

That has already seen Schloithe win the WJ Hughes Medal as South Fremantle's fairest and best winner for 2014 and not only is he now a genuine Sandover Medal contender, but he could also find himself back on an AFL list in 2015.

Schloithe certainly was at the forefront of the umpires right through the year as well earning a remarkable 86 free-kicks, mostly for high tackles.

Schloithe kicked 25 goals in his 20 games this season including four in Round 6 against East Fremantle and he also averaged almost 24 possessions a game including 38 in Round 4 against Swan Districts, 37 in Round 5 against West Perth and 30 in Round 16 against Perth.

Horsley is in his first season back with Subiaco after three years in the AFL with the Gold Coast Suns and after missing the opening three games through injury, he put together an outstanding season with the Lions.

Horsley played in the 2008 premiership with Subiaco and had a brilliant 2011 campaign going close to winning the Sandover Medal behind Blackwell to earn himself an opportunity in the AFL.

He has become Subiaco captain on return this year and led from the front averaging 26.7 possessions a game, laying almost 100 tackles and kicking 14 goals.

After coming into the team in Round 4, Horsley was remarkably consistent having at least 20 possessions in every game, and gathering 32 in Round 14, 35 in Round 17 and 35 in Round 23.

Dalziell was unlucky to be delisted by West Coast at the end of the 2013 season but he was quick to commit to returning to East Fremantle and he delivered a strong year with the Sharks.

The 27-year-old averaged over 27 possessions a game while kicking 22 goals and put in a host of match-winning performances including in Round 1, Round 4, Round 9, Round 12, Round 15 and Round 22.

West Perth's Nelson was the league's best ball winner averaging 31.1 disposals a game. His low came in Round 5 against South Fremantle but aside from that he never had fewer than 21 possessions a game.

The 21-year-old had 30 or more possessions on 13 occasions including 52 in Round 23, 44 in Round 19, 38 in Round 2, 37 in Round 1 and Round 14.

As an in and under midfielder he was always in the sight of the umpires and after starring in last year's premiership with the Falcons, he took his game to another level again in 2014 and should poll strongly as a result.

Another West Perth player who was a key in the premiership year and improved further in 2014 was Black.

He became an even more prolific ball winner with the 21-year-old averaging 30.3 disposals a game and never having a game few than his 22 touches in Round 18.

He also had 30 or more touches on eight occasions including 44 in Round 19, 39 in Round 23, 36 in Round 22 and 35 in Round 15.

His hard-running saw him endlessly find space throughout the year with him taking an impressive 143 marks while his skill level also took another step forward throughout 2014. He has already proven he is a vote winner in Sandover Medals and could very well be right up there again.

While he will have to battle with Nelson and Black for votes, Kerr is another West Perth player who was a massive ball winner in 2014.

Backing up his first season with West Perth which saw him star in the grand final with five goals, Kerr had an outstanding 2014 averaging 25.9 possessions a game while also taking 146 marks and kicking 10 goals.

While the amount of ball he won was impressive, it is his precise use of the ball by foot that makes him a standout and could see him poll strongly.

It is rare that a forward wins a Sandover Medal as the midfielders have traditionally dominated, but Swan Districts' Davis is such a match-winner for the black-and-whites when he fires that he could poll strongly.

The 2010 premiership player kicked late goals on at least two occasions to win games off his own boot this season and ended the year with 36 goals while also averaging 18.5 possessions a game and being strong defensively averaging over four tackles a game.

With three hauls of five goals and three other games of 30 or more disposals, he very well could come away at least with several five-vote performances.

Boekhorst had been nothing but a fringe player at Swan Districts coming into 2014 having played 25 games in the previous three seasons, but some opportunities opened up in the midfield and the 21-year-old grabbed them with both hands.

He proved himself a hard-running and impressive ball winner averaging 20.8 possessions a game while going on numerous eye-catching runs with the ball to set up the likes of Davis, Tim Geappen, Tony Notte and Ricky Cary in attack.

Boekhorst was rewarded for him form by playing for WA in the State game win over the NEAFL, and his year could see him poll plenty of Sandover Medal votes as well.

East Perth's 245-game 31-year-old co-captain Wulff would be perhaps the most remarkable Sandover Medal winner in memory if he pulled it off, and there's no reason he can't based on his form this season.

While playing a new role splitting his time between half-forward and on the ball, the inspirational skipper averaged 25.2 possessions a game this season, kicked a career-high 18 goals and once again led the Royals from the front.

He did miss two games with a finger injury, but could poll well and be right in the running for top spot despite having a host of players in his team who could take votes off him.

One of those is wingman Payne who has taken his game to another level for East Perth in 2014. The 24-year-old averaged 25.1 possessions a game in 2014 with a low of 12 in Round 5, but only three times did he slip under 20 with highs of 35 in Round 21, 32 in Round 10, 32 in Round 18 and 30 in Round 7.

LUKE BLACKWELL (Claremont)
19 games, 557 possessions, 3 goals, 69 marks, 64 tackles
Certain votes in: 7 matches (Rounds 2, 6, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22)
Possible votes in: 8 matches (Rounds 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 20, 23)
Games missed: 1
Votes in 2013: 22 

BRADD DALZIELL (East Fremantle)
18 games, 492 possessions, 22 goals, 102 marks, 56 tackles
Certain votes in: 6 matches (Rounds 1, 4, 9, 12, 15, 22)
Possible votes in: 5 matches (Rounds 5, 7, 16, 17, 18)
Games missed: 2
Votes in 2013: 20

RORY O'BRIEN (East Fremantle)
20 games, 586 possessions, 9 goals, 108 marks, 76 tackles, 49 free kicks
Certain votes in: 3 matches (Rounds 12, 15, 22)
Possible votes in: 6 matches (Rounds 1, 5, 13, 17, 18, 20)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 55 (Winner)

STEVEN PAYNE (East Perth)
20 games, 501 possessions, 12 goals, 110 marks, 41 tackles
Certain votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 1, 8, 10, 21)
Possible votes in: 7 matches (Rounds 2, 7, 11, 12, 15, 18, 22)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 0

CRAIG WULFF (East Perth)
18 games, 454 possessions, 17 goals, 90 marks, 45 tackles
Certain votes in: 3 matches (Rounds 3, 16, 22)
Possible votes in: 7 matches (Rounds 1, 8, 12, 15, 18, 20, 21)
Games missed: 2
Votes in 2013: 21

HAIDEN SCHLOITHE (South Fremantle)
20 games, 473 possessions, 25 goals, 86 marks, 66 tackles, 86 free kicks
Certain votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 4, 5, 6, 22)
Possible votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 12, 16, 21, 23)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 12

KYAL HORSLEY (Subiaco)
17 games, 454 possessions, 14 goals, 89 tackles
Certain votes in: 6 matches (Rounds 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 23)
Possible votes in: 7 matches (Rounds 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 22)
Games missed: 3
Votes in 2013: Not in WAFL

BLAINE BOEKHORST (Swan Districts)
19 games, 396 possessions, 8 goals, 83 marks
Certain votes in: 2 matches (Rounds 8, 10)
Possible votes in: 6 matches (Rounds 1, 3, 5, 12, 13, 21)
Games missed: 1
Votes in 2013: 0

RYAN DAVIS (Swan Districts)
20 games, 370 possessions, 34 goals, 90 marks, 63 tackles
Certain votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 3, 5, 8, 15)
Possible votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 4, 11, 13, 21)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 9

AARON BLACK (West Perth)
20 games, 605 possessions, 9 goals, 143 marks
Certain votes in: 5 matches (Rounds 9, 11, 19, 21, 23)
Possible votes in: 9 matches (Rounds 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 20, 22)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 30

ROHAN KERR (West Perth)
20 games, 517 possessions, 10 goals, 146 marks
Certain votes in: 1 match (Rounds 11)
Possible votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 4, 14, 19, 23)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 13

SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
20 games, 622 possessions, 6 goals, 78 marks, 66 tackles, 41 hit outs
Certain votes in: 4 matches (Rounds 8, 14, 19, 23)
Possible votes in: 6 matches (Rounds 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12)
Games missed: 0
Votes in 2013: 20