Weekly Times | JORDAN Sabell never thought he would take home the East Gippsland league best-and-fairest last week.
The 18-year-old Paynesville midfielder took out the competition’s top individual honour by seven votes ahead of Stratford’s Lachlan Channing.
But Sabell said he did not think he was a chance considering he did not play for the Gulls’ seniors until Round 6 against Lindenow.
He played 13 senior matches throughout the regular season and polled 25 votes.
“People were telling me that they thought I was going to win it, but I never expected it at all because I missed the first five games,” Sabell said.
“It was surreal, I was just over the moon.”
At the start of the year Sabell, a former Sale footballer in the Gippsland league, moved to Melbourne to start an agricultural science degree at university. While he was there he played a handful of games at Montmorency in the Northern Football League and St Kilda City in the Southern Football League.
But he decided against university and returned home to Lucknow, and is now an electrical apprentice.
When Paynesville president Wayne Barnes heard Sabell was coming home — Sabell continued to commute to Melbourne for a week or two for football — he approached Sabell about playing with the Gulls.
Barnes thought Sabell was a chance to win the league best-and-fairest after he secured a huge win in the club equivalent last Sunday.
“We always thought he was a chance, but those first five games were where it was going to be won or lost,” Barnes said.
“We were just lucky that a lot of other clubs, people were taking votes off each other, there wasn’t a standout from the other clubs.”
Sabell, who is still eligible to under-18s this year, will coach the Paynesville thirds next year as well a play senior football with the Gulls.
Paynesville will play Lindenow in the first semi-final today at Bairnsdale. Yesterday minor premier Wy Yung locked in a grand final berth with a 75-point win against Stratford.
Stratford, the reigning premier, will play the winner of today’s match in this week’s preliminary final.
