Bendigo Advertiser | Westy counts down from No.10 to 1 in his Bendigo Football League Top 20 players.
10. Matt Thornton (Sandhurst) – been on the ride with the Dragons all the way through from their rock bottom year in 2008 to grand final appearance last season. Big man with great hands getting better each year and named centre half-back in last year’s Addy Team of the Year.
10. Matt Thornton (Sandhurst) – been on the ride with the Dragons all the way through from their rock bottom year in 2008 to grand final appearance last season. Big man with great hands getting better each year and named centre half-back in last year’s Addy Team of the Year.
9. Mitch Dole (Sandhurst) – one of those players who brings the crowd through the gates. Be it electrifying bounces down the QEO wing or weaving his way through traffic and kicking the mercurial goal, barely a game goes by when the livewire doesn’t produce at least one highlight to ignite the Dragons.
8. Brodie Filo (Eaglehawk) – might be a bit of a long bow to draw, but I remember him snapping a miraculous goal over his shoulder at the city end of the QEO a couple of years ago and immediately thinking, “that was Gary Ablett Jnr like”. Has freakish skills and you’d back him more often than not to put it through the big sticks from anywhere within 60m - on either foot.
7. Ben Weightman (Kyneton) – brilliant first season at the Tigers last year and quickly established himself as one of the premier midfielder/goalkickers in the competition with plenty of tricks. Bagged 64 goals last year, hit the scoreboard in every match and one of those players you’d love two of – one to stay in the middle, one to play permanent forward.
6. Sam Mildren (Strathfieldsaye) – persistent injury problems since joining the Storm in 2011 have made it near impossible for him to be anywhere near 100 per cent. But that didn’t stop him dominating last year’s grand final, hauling in 13 marks and booting seven goals and reiterating why he’s one of the elite key forwards… when his body allows.
5. Simon Rosa (Golden Square) – smooth as silk midfielder who just keeps on keeping on. Must be made of teflon because it seems opposition players can’t stick a tackle on arguably the most respected player in the BFL. Has played in four flags with the Bulldogs and was in their best players in all four, which says it all when performing on the big stage.
4. Jack Geary (Golden Square) – powerhouse midfielder and bull of a competitor whose already bulging footy CV had another notch added to it last year with inter-league captain. Running machine, tough as nails and a tremendous leader in the Joel Selwood mode who the bigger the stage, the more he seems to revel. A couple of Nalder medals among his five grand final wins are proof of that.
3. Tim Martin (Sandhurst) – the premier big man in the BFL who has taken the competition by storm since returning to the Dragons in 2013. Has given his onballers an arm-chair ride in the middle and also a force around the ground. Such is his importance, you couldn’t help but feel that when Martin went down with a dislocated ankle in last year’s preliminary final, so too went the Dragons’ flag chances, even though he somehow got himself up to play in the grand final.
2. Stephen Milne (Strathfieldsaye) – arguably the BFL’s most talked about recruit in modern times did everything you expected he would last year: kick more than 100 goals, help lead the Storm to their first flag, win the club’s best and fairest and produce an inter-league performance for the ages with his haul of nine against Gippsland. Sounds like we probably won’t see quite of much as him in the BFL this year, but when he’s in the blue and white hoops of the Storm, if he’s held to under five goals, his opponent will have done a fine job.
1. Corey Jones (Golden Square) – the complete footballer who does it all and makes going to watch the footy a joy, like the elimination final against Eaglehawk last year when he stood out like a beacon. It wasn’t uncommon last year to see Jones clear the ball from the defensive 50 and then end up down the other end and kick the goal for Square. Not content just to let his sublime skills – which make him near unstoppable one-on-one and always a threat in range of the big sticks - do the talking, as the old saying goes, he’s hard as a cat’s head when it comes to his attack on the footy and my choice as the No.1 player running around in the BFL in 2015.
* The list doesn't include new recuits into the competition this season.
