Star Richmond midfielder Trent Cotchin has capped off an outstanding 2012 season by capturing a second successive Jack Dyer Medal.

Cotchin was a runaway winner in the Tigers’ Best and Fairest count held tonight (Wednesday, September 5) in the Palladium Ballroom at Crown, polling 296 votes, with dual Jack Dyer Medallist Brett Deledio runner-up, on 263 votes, and Ivan Maric in third place, with 248 votes.  Shane Tuck, 207 votes, and Shaun Grigg, 198 votes, rounded out the top five place-getters.

At just 22 years, five months, Cotchin is the same age as Deledio, when he won his second consecutive Jack Dyer Medal in 2009.  You have to go back to Richmond ‘Immortal’ Kevin Bartlett, in 1967-68, for a younger winner of back-to-back Best and Fairests at Tigerland.

Take home a slice of history, the Trent Cotchin JDM back-to-back piece.

Cotchin was prominent from the outset in the vote count.  He held a one vote lead over Maric at the halfway mark, with Deledio a further five votes behind in third place at that stage.

As the rounds rolled on, however, Cotchin’s superb form saw him forge further ahead, and he put the result beyond doubt with a scintillating Round 20 display against the Western Bulldogs, which earned him a season-high 22 votes in the Best and Fairest.

See all the best photos from the 2012 Jack Dyer Medal

Cotchin, who played all 22 games in season 2012, was ranked No. 1 at the Club for total disposals, with 606, at an average of 27.6 per match.  On 21 occasions, he had 20 disposals or more, and he racked up 30 disposals or more seven times (four of those coming in the last four rounds), with a season-high 38 against Gold Coast in Round 16.

He was ranked No. 2 at the Club for total contested possessions (273), No. 2 for inside-50 entries (116), No, 2 for centre clearances (113), No. 4 for uncontested possessions (328) and finished fifth on the Tigers’ goalkicking table with 21 goals.
Deledio maintained his excellent Jack Dyer Medal record with his second placing this year.  He also finished runner-up to Cotchin in 2011, was third in 2010, and a back-to-back Jack Dyer Medallist in 2008-09.

The 25-year-old, who again managed to play all 22 games this season, averaged 27.5 disposals per match.

Deledio had 20 disposals or more on 20 occasions and 30 disposals or more 10 times, with a season-high 36 against Gold Coast in Round 16.

He was ranked No. 1 at the Club (and competition) for inside-50 entries (129), No. 1 for effective disposals (430), No. 2 for total disposals (605), No. 2 for uncontested possessions (380), No. 3 for contested possessions (213), No. 3 for centre clearances (80), No. 3 for goal assists (18), No. 3 for tackles (102) and he finished seventh on the Tigers’ goalkicking table with 17 goals.

Maric underlined the profound impact he had in his first year at Richmond, after being traded by the Adelaide Crows, with his third placing in the 2012 Jack Dyer Medal.
The 26-year-old ruckman averaged nearly 16 disposals per game, with a season-high 22 against Essendon in Round 8.

He was ranked No. 1 at the Club (and third in the competition) for total hit-outs, (652), No. 2 for total contested marks (30), No. 5 for tackles (79) and No. 6 for centre clearances (65).

Tuck recorded his fourth top-five finish in the Jack Dyer Medal.  His fourth placing this year goes with his third placings in 2005 and 2007 and his runner-up effort in 2008.

The 30-year-old midfielder averaged 26.2 disposals per game this year, with a season-high 35 against Hawthorn in Round 9.

He was ranked No. 1 at the Club for contested possessions (298), No. 1 for centre clearances (123), No. 1 for tackles (124), No. 3 for total disposals (576), No. 3 for inside-50 entries (104), No. 3 for effective disposals (427) and No. 3 for total marks (117).

Grigg enjoyed the best season of his six-year AFL career.

The hard-running, 24-year-old averaged 25.5 disposals per game in 22 appearances during his second season with the Tigers.  Impressively, not once did Grigg dip below 20 disposals in a match, and he recorded a season-high 37 disposals against Melbourne in Round 3.

He was ranked No. 1 at the Club and No. 3 in the competition for uncontested possessions (411), No. 2 at the Club for effective disposals (429), No. 2 at the Club for total marks (133), No. 4 at the Club for total disposals (576), No. 4 at the Club for inside-50 entries (91) and finished sixth on the Tigers’ goalkicking list with 18 goals.

The voting system for the Jack Dyer Medal is, as follows . . .

After each game, the five members of the Club’s match committee cast votes for each of the team’s 22 players.

Each player receives zero to five votes from each coach, so the most an individual player can poll in a match is 25 votes. Five votes are awarded for an outstanding performance, four for an excellent game, all the way down to zero.

Here is the list of the top 20 vote-getters in the 2012 Jack Dyer Medal:

2012 Jack Dyer Medal

1st    Trent Cotchin    296 votes  (Jack Dyer Medal winner)
2nd    Brett Deledio    263  (Jack Titus Medal winner)
3rd    Ivan Maric    248  (Maurie Fleming Medal winner)
4th    Shane Tuck    207  (Fred Swift Medal winner)
5th    Shaun Grigg    198  (Kevin Bartlett Medal winner)
6th    Alex Rance    192
7th    Steven Morris    191
8th    Shane Edwards    188
9th    Jack Riewoldt    173
Eq. 10th    Dustin Martin    170
Eq. 10th    Bachar Houli    170
12th    Chris Newman    163
13th    Daniel Jackson    154
14th    Robin Nahas    151
15th    Reece Conca    115
16th    Brandon Ellis    110
17th    Dylan Grimes    101
18th    Nathan Foley    96
19th    Jake Batchelor    89
20th    Jake King    83