William Buck Premier Coaches MVP: Round 9

The William Buck Premier Coaches MVP Award was introduced in 2014 and the award immediately resonated with the VAFA community. Harry Tinney from Old Trinity won the inaugural award, with Ross Young (Uni Blues) and Tom Penberthy (Collegians) taking out the past two.

Each week the William Buck Premier coaches send through their votes on a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis from their game on the weekend. Votes can be awarded to players from both sides with the voting emphasis to be on who was the most valuable player on the ground.

With both coaches voting in one match, the most a player can get is 10 votes (2 x 5).

The winner will be announced at Monday night’s Woodrow Medal and VAFA Awards Night at Crown’s River Room.

At the half way point of the season, it was De La Salle star, Jason Tutt, leading the count on 41 votes. Tutt’s run and carry from defence was a key component of De La’s finals run in 2017 and should hold him in good stead throughout the back half of the season.

Previous winner, Ross Young, is just three votes behind Tutt, while Old Melburnians captain, Tom Paule, is five votes behind in third. Despite suffering an injury in Round 5, St Kevin’s midfielder Nick Wood still sits equal-fourth after polling 26 votes in the first four rounds. He polled a perfect 10 in Round 1 against the Blues and followed it up with a four, five and seven.

The leader board up until Round 15 will be released prior to Monday’s announcement at the Woodrow, with the last three rounds and final tally shown on the night.