Richmond star key defender Alex Rance has won the 2015 Jack Dyer Medal.
Rance took out the Tigers’ Best and Fairest award for the first time, polling 76 votes under the Club’s new voting system, with dynamic midfielder Dustin Martin finishing runner-up on 60 votes, and prime playmaker Brett Deledio third on 54 votes, in tonight’s count held at a packed Crown Palladium.
Tenacious ‘ball-magnet’ Anthony Miles finished in fourth place with 50 votes, while star forward Jack Riewoldt was fifth on 48 votes.
The Jack Dyer Medal triumph was just reward for Rance, who had an outstanding season across Richmond’s backline.
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He was hailed as the best key defender in the competition due to his elite ability to repeatedly win the ball back for the Tigers and launch counter attacks while, at the same time, still managing to lock down tightly on opponents.
For the second successive year, Rance gained All-Australian selection, named at full-back in the 2015 team.
Rance, who turns 26 this Friday (October 9), played all 23 of Richmond’s games this season, averaging 17.4 disposals, 5.9 marks and 3.0 tackles per match.
He was ranked 11th in the competition for rebound-50s and No. 1 in one-percenters.
Among the playing group at Tigerland, Rance was ranked a clear leader in one-percenters, intercept marks and intercept possessions, second for rebound-50s, second in contested marks and fourth in total marks.
Rance is the first key defender to win the coveted Jack Dyer Medal since Darren Gaspar in 2001.
Martin, runner-up for the second time in the Club’s Best and Fairest (previously in 2013), maintained an impressively high level of consistency throughout the 2015 season.
He played all 23 games, averaged 26.0 disposals and 4.5 marks per match, and kicked 24 goals.
The 24-year-old was ranked second in the competition for total kicks, seventh in uncontested possessions, ninth in inside-50s and equal 11th in total disposals.
Within the Tigers’ playing group, Martin was ranked first for kicks, first for total disposals, first for inside-50s, second in uncontested possessions, third in contested possessions, third in rebound-50s, third for tackles, equal fourth in centre clearances, fourth in goals, fifth for handballs, fifth in clearances, and fifth in stoppages.
Deledio, who had a rare injury-interrupted start to the year, bounced back in emphatic fashion.
He averaged 21.6 disposals and 5.9 marks per game, and finished third on Richmond’s goalkicking list with 27 goals.
From Round 7, when he made his return from a calf injury that had sidelined him for a total of four games, until the end of the home-and-away rounds, Deledio was ranked No. 2 in the competition for score involvements and No. 4 for average player ranking points.
And, he was one of just 10 players in the competition to average more than 20 disposals and a goal per game.
Fittingly, the All-Australian selectors found room for him on the interchange bench in 2015’s star-studded side.
Miles made further significant in-roads during his second season at Tigerland.
The hard-working, inside midfielder averaged 23.6 disposals and 11.5 contested possessions per game.
He was ranked equal 12th in the competition for clearances and 13th in contested possessions.
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Among his playing peers at Richmond, Miles was ranked No. 1 in handballs, clearances, centre clearances, stoppages, second for contested possessions, inside-50s and tackles, third in total disposals and fifth for kicks.
Riewoldt created Tigerland history in 2015, becoming the first Richmond player to kick 50 goals or more six seasons in-a-row (he finished with 54).
The 26-year-old veteran of 180 league games, averaged 13.0 disposals and 6.3 marks per game for the season.
He was ranked third in the competition for marks inside-50, sixth in contested marks, sixth in goals and eighth in goal assists.
His creative work further up the ground was especially eye-catching this season, and he also was rewarded with All-Australian selection, for the second time in his AFL career (previously in 2010), chosen at centre half-forward.
Under the new Jack Dyer Medal voting system, all of the team’s players on match day receive a rating from 0-5 based on their overall performance.
The match committee assesses each player’s offensive, defensive, and contest impacts on the game.
After those game phases have been analysed, the 0-5 rating is given, as a joint match committee decision.
Votes are not allocated for what the match committee deems as a below-average performance.
2015 Jack Dyer Medal top 20
1st Alex Rance 76 votes (Jack Dyer Medal winner)
2nd Dustin Martin 60 (Jack Titus Medal winner)
3rd Brett Deledio 54 (Maurie Fleming Medal winner)
4th Anthony Miles 50 (Fred Swift Medal winner)
5th Jack Riewoldt 48 (Kevin Bartlett Medal winner)
Eq 6th Trent Cotchin 47
Eq 6th Nick Vlastuin 47
8th Bachar Houli 46
Eq 9th Shaun Grigg 44
Eq 9th Dylan Grimes 44
11th Brandon Ellis 43
12th Jake Batchelor 40
13th Ivan Maric 39
14th Taylor Hunt 38
15th Shane Edwards 37
16th Troy Chaplin 32
17th Kam McIntosh 31
18th Ty Vickery 21
Eq 19th Kane Lambert 19
Eq 19th Chris Newman 19
