SANDOVER MEDAL PREVIEW

WEST Perth coach Bill Monaghan isn’t necessarily sure the Falcons will have a genuine Sandover Medal contender on Monday night, but for him that's a good sign highlighting the evenness of his grand final-bound side.

The Sandover Medal count will be streamed live on thewest.com.au from 9pm and is available by clicking here: http://sandover-live.thewest.com.au/

It will also be broadcast live on 990am Information Radio from 7pm.

The Falcons didn’t have a standout performer all season long meaning it's hard to pinpoint one player who might finish near the top, or in fact on top, of the Sandover Medal leaderboard, but that is a strong sign of how even the West Perth team is that has made the grand final.

Young midfielders Shane Nelson and Aaron Black have been outstanding all year long and could very well poll strongly, but so could reigning Breckler Medallist Mark Hutchings who played only 11 games due to time with the West Coast Eagles.

However, in those 11 matches, he was superb averaging over 27 possessions a game and kicking 11 goals.

Meanwhile, the Falcons' defence was rock solid all year but also provided plenty of run and drive with Jordan Jones, Steven Browne and Andrew Strijk leading the way there, and they could very well end up racking up plenty of votes.

Veteran on-baller Matt Guadagnin is focused solely on his first grand final on Sunday in what will be the 162nd game of his strong WAFL career, but is a proven strong vote winner as well and has had another tremendous season with the Falcons.

First-year recruit Rohan Kerr has made a strong impact as well in his first season with the Falcons and plays an eye-catching brand of running and goalkicking football so that could see him attract plenty of votes as well.

West Perth coach Monaghan knows that the Falcons haven’t had a dominant player throughout 2013 so it's hard to judge who will end up polling the most votes from his club.

"The Sandover Medal is always an interesting one. Probably for us Hutch has played 11 games and there's still a chance that in seven or eight of those he might be good enough to get votes, and he's a proven vote getter," Monaghan said.

"Nelly polled really well last year and he has probably been more consistent, and played more games this year. Matt Guadagnin was leading the Sandover Medal in 2011 after about 15 rounds before he got injured so we have three proven vote getters there, but if you go on some of the best players in all forms of press sometimes we win games and we still don’t have the best or second or third best players on the ground so it will be an interesting count for us.

"We probably have somewhere between six and eight players who I think will be an even spread in our fairest and best, so I will be saying there will be six or eight players who might all be around the mark on Sandover Medal night but I would have thought we don't have any real serious contenders.

"Put it this way, I don’t think we have someone who will get 50 so if the winner gets 50 you can count us out, but if the winner gets 35 then one of our players might be a chance if the umpires back in the same player week in, week out when we think we've had an even spread."

Looking at other possible winners from other clubs, Monaghan feels it will come down to midfielders Jake Murphy (Claremont) and Rory O'Brien (East Fremantle), and ruckmen Paul Johnson (East Perth) and Mark Seaby (Claremont).

"To be honest, I think midfield-wise it's going to be either Jake Murphy or Rory O'Brien and then it's a real funny one with a couple of big blokes – Mark Seaby and Paul Johnson who get a lot of media attention and rightly so because they are both fantastic players," he said.

"Johnson didn’t poll strongly last year but sometimes that can either mean you are not a poller, and I know because I wasn’t but that's because I had no ability either, and then sometimes players can get players the year after because people think they had a fanstic year and only got 10 Sandover votes.

"Sometimes that year after not getting a lot of votes when you were expected to it can be a little bit higher on the vote count so I wouldn’t put it past Paul Johnson to figure in it strongly this year."

Monaghan also isn’t looking at the prospect of an East Perth winner possibly being a distraction to the Royals' grand final preparations – after all Luke Blackwell and Kane Mitchell have won the last two Sandover Medals and Claremont have gone on to win the premierships.

"Claremont has won the last two premierships and had the last two Sandover Medallists so I don’t think that's a big issue. With the clubs in the grand final it's a get in, get out type night and those not playing enjoy themselves," Monaghan said.

"But if a West Perth player doesn’t win, we will pay due respect to the winner and listen to the speeches and stay for the toast, but then there will be a red-and-blue flash leaving pretty quickly after the count's finished."

SHANE NELSON

20 games, 538 possessions, 6 goals, 65 marks

Certain votes: 4 (Rounds 1, 2, 16, 20)

Possible votes: 8 (Rounds 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 18, 21, 24)

Games missed: 0

He might have only played 15 league games coming into the 2013 season, but had shown terrific signs as an emerging midfielder last year and has taken that up another level further this season.

The 20-year-old played every game for West Perth in 2013 and was a key part of the midfield and a prolific ball winner averaging 26.9 possessions over the course of the 20 matches.

His consistency was remarkable with him never having a match of less than 17 possessions and only twice did he gather few than 20 disposals.

He started the season with back-to-back games of 30 possessions in Rounds 1 and 2 before going on to have six more games of over 30 disposals including 35 in Round 7, 32 in Round 12, 31 in Round 16 and then a team-high 42 in Round 24 against Swan Districts.

MATT GUADAGNIN

19 games, 372 possessions, 9 goals, 56 marks, 60 tackles

Certain votes: 2 (Rounds 5, 21)

Possible votes: 7 (Rounds 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20)

Games missed: 1

The veteran on-baller is a proven Sandover Medal vote winner leading the count in 2011 before he broke his leg and was overrun by Luke Blackwell, but the 29-year-old has been back to his best in 2013 and could very well poll strongly again as a result.

He averaged 19.6 possessions a game throughout the season while also averaging over three marks and tackles a game, and finishing the season with nine goals.

Admittedly he had a slow start to the season after a limited pre-season and only had 20 possessions or more twice in his first six games, but from Round 7 onwards he built some outstanding form.

That included 31 possessions in Round 13 in what was his season-high but he had a big impact in several other matches before missing Round 23 and then only having a limited role in Round 24.

AARON BLACK 

20 games, 516 possessions, 4 goals, 131 marks

Certain votes: 2 (Rounds 10, 14)

Possible votes: 10 (Rounds 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24)

Games missed: 0

The 20-year-old brought up his 50th WAFL game during the 2013 season as he continued to cement himself as one of the best young players in the competition.

He represented WA against Victoria during the season and both as a wingman and on the ball, was a tremendous contributor for the Falcons averaging 25.8 possessions a game.

He was remarkably consistent never having a game of less than his 17 possessions in Round 19 and having 20 more disposals in every game bar two highlighted by a high of 37 in Round 24, and 30-plus in Rounds 4, 8, 10, 14 and 21.

MARK HUTCHINGS 

11 games, 298 possessions, 11 goals, 55 marks, 48 tackles

Certain votes: 2 (Rounds 4, 5)

Possible votes: 7 (Rounds 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 22, 24)

Games missed: 9

The 22 year-old reigning West Perth fairest and best winner might have played just 11 matches during the home and away season for the Falcons, but had such a big impact in each of those that he could very well poll well.

When not playing with the West Coast Eagles, the midfielder averaged 27.1 possessions in his 11 games with the Falcons to go with kicking 11 goals as well.

There wasn’t one of his 11 games he played in where he wouldn’t be a chance to get at least one vote, and he might get several lots of five.

His lowest possession tally was his 21 in Round 14 while he picked 32 in Round 4, 33 in Round 8, 32 in Round 12 and then 29 to go with seven tackles in Round 24.

JORDAN JONES 

19 games, 337 possessions, 91 marks

Certain votes: 4 (Round 10)

Possible votes: 6 (Rounds 4, 5, 7, 15, 18, 20)

Games missed: 1

Had an outstanding second season with West Perth following time with Peel Thunder while listed by the West Coast Eagles.

He might have struggled to find his best position during 2012, but has settled as a versatile defender in the Falcons' line-up this year and been tremendous both in setting up play coming out of the back-line and being able to do stopping jobs on a variety of opposition forwards.

Averaged 17.7 possessions a game so didn’t have the big numbers of his midfield teammates, but had a high of 27 in Round 18 and could very well of put in a number of eye-catching performances.

ROHAN KERR 

18 games, 363 possessions, 19 goals, 67 marks

Certain votes: 3 (Rounds 2, 16, 19)

Possible votes: 7 (Rounds 4, 5, 8, 18, 20, 21, 24)

Games missed: 2

The 21-year-old has made an immediate impact on arrival at West Perth in 2013 as a dangerous wingman and half-forward, and given his eye-catching style of play he could very well end up polling well in the Sandover Medal.

Averaged 20.2 possessions a game while kicking 19 goals in his 18 games during the season including disposal high of 31 in Round 18 while kicking six goals in Round 5, three in Round 8 and three again in Round 24.

ANDREW STRIJK 

19 games, 386 possessions, 4 goals, 133 marks

Certain votes: 4 (Rounds 15, 20, 21)

Possible votes: 6 (Rounds 1, 5, 7, 11, 14, 18)

Games missed: 1

The 26-year-old has now played 132 games for West Perth and had perhaps the best season of his career in 2013 upon returning to the Falcons full-time after time with West Coast in the AFL.

Has settled into a role across half-back again after the Eagles wanted him to play as a half-forward, and has averaged 20.3 possessions a game including a high of 27 in Round 13.

BY CHRIS PIKE