Hayward Medal: Raging hot favourite emerges but strong field of contenders set for thrilling count

Tomorrow night, the 88th winner of the prestigious Hayward Medal — the highest individual award in South West football — will be crowned. While the raging hot favourite is a silky-smooth midfielder brought in as a prized recruit, there are a host of local products who put together eye-catching seasons, or could a bullocking key forward become the first player to win it from outside the midfield in a decade? If the favourite, Augusta-Margaret River’s Simon Moore, was to win the award, it would head south down the highway for the 10th time. Another import, Harvey Bulls’ Brad Holmes, was so dominant up forward, kicking 22 more goals than his nearest rival, he might just poll enough votes to be in contention himself. Or could Donnybrook champion Jace Cormack become the first dual winner of the award since Jesse Gribble in 2014? Here are a few of the stars of our competition who could feature prominently in tomorrow night’s count. Simon Moore (Augusta-Margaret River) Moore’s second season in green and gold has seen him set the standard for the competition. No one has the ability to find time and space at the coalface like he does and with the electric Regan Smith by his side, and Max Paterson doing the two-way running, the Hawks have built one of the league’s most damaging midfield groups. Only three times in 17 games has he not been named among the Hawks’ best by the coaches, and he has stood up when it counts, putting in brilliant showings in big games against Bunbury, Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault and Busselton. The midfielder arrived at Gloucester Park immediately after winning the 2019 WAFL premiership with Subiaco, and may not have shown us his dominant best in the shortened 2020 season, but is undoubtedly playing at a different level this year. Hawks coach Matt Jamieson said this week he expects Moore to be in “strong contention”. “He has been injury free this year; he carried a few niggles last year and I think his footy has done the talking,” he said. Last year’s winner Brendan Tingey has also backed Moore to take home the award. “They have won a lot of games this year and from what I have seen he has consistently been their best player,” he said. Mitch Tenardi (Busselton) Mitch Tenardi looks to be well on his way to becoming the first Busselton player ever to win four consecutive best and fairest awards — and this season might be his best of the lot. Few players draw as much direct attention from opponents as he does, because few are as damaging when they get the ball in their hands. He’s in fair company in the Busselton midfield, playing alongside Jackson and Nathan Arbon and Austin Styles each week, and while forwards Jaxon East and Liam Creighton will collect votes too, Tenardi still stands out above the pack. Last year’s 21st-placed finish was surprisingly low as runner-up Ethan Maguire took the bulk of Busselton’s votes, but given his influence this year, the umpires surely have taken notice. Brad Holmes (Harvey Bulls) The Peel Thunder goal kicking legend’s recruitment to the Harvey Bulls went somewhat under the radar during preseason, but the 32-year-old was still playing regular league games and kicking regular goals up until last season. Part of the recruitment drive which saw the Bulls improve greatly this season, Holmes started with a bang, kicking five on opening night against Carey Park. He kicked five or more on seven occasions, and five times during the first eight weeks of the season. No one from outside the midfield has won the medal since Donnybrook’s Jeff Smith in 2011, but sheer weight of numbers must have Holmes in the reckoning. And if the count is tight at the business end, he finished with a lazy bag of nine in the final round against Eaton. JUJace Cormack (Donnybrook) He might have lacked support in the midfield at the Dons this year, and would have to defy recent trends to win it from outside the finals, but Cormack put together another stellar year. Already a Hayward winner, Cormack followed in the footsteps of his father and 1980 Hayward medallist John in winning the award, whilst playing down back, up forward and through the middle. This season he has done it all again. He wins the footy from the source, plugs a hole in defence when required, is their main link-up player off half-back, and has plenty of goals to his name too. If he was to win it, he would be the first player since himself to win the award but miss the finals. Ty Anderson (Harv-Bruns-Lesch) Anderson may still be somewhat of an outsider, but don’t be surprised to see the lightning-quick 21-year-old finish inside the top few vote-getters. A half-forward by trade, Anderson expanded his game and spent extra time running through the midfield for the Lions, doing so alongside previous medal winners, Jesse Crichton and Brendan Tingey. The youngster, nicknamed “Mr Hayward” by teammates, has taken home match balls in multiple games this year. and become a more damaging player, according to coach John Baggetta. “He is very fit, he works hard on the track, he has got good pace and he knows what he wants to do and now he’s doing it,” he said.