COBDEN rover Patrick Smith might be small in stature but he left a big impression on umpires, claiming a runaway win in the Hampden league’s under 14 best and fairest award last night.
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Patrick polled 30 votes, taking home the Stuart Brunt Medal by nine votes from Terang Mortlake ruck-rover Scotty Carlin.
Patrick, who played all of the Bombers’ 13 matches in the home-and-away season, polled votes in 11 games, including nine best-on-ground performances.
After picking up a one-vote in the opening game and then a two-vote in round two, Patrick shot to the top of the leaderboard with five consecutive three-votes to blow the count open.
He then finished with four consecutive three-votes to round 17 to cap a dominant season.
“I didn’t think I would win,” the onballer said.
The 14-year-old said he thought he was attending the count for social reasons, revealing he was surprised to win by such a margin. Despite the gap between him and Scotty, he said he only became aware after the second-last round that he couldn’t be beaten.
“I started thinking what I was going to say,” he said.
Patrick played two under 16 matches for the Bombers during the season and will step up to the older age group next season.
The Mercy Regional College year 8 student said his long-term football goal was to graduate to seniors with the Bombers.
Hawks’ Jack Zanker and Warrnambool’s Will Fleming tied for third with 17 votes.
