Tara Murray
When Keilor’s Jhett Gaskett claimed the J.Coleman Medal as the best player in the Essendon District Football League premier reserves competition, he was unaware of an amazing family connection.
Gaskett, who returned to football this season, polled 22 votes to finish 10 clear of teammate Melvin Tataya at the league awards night.
Winning the medal was a shock to begin with. An even bigger shock came the next day.
“I didn’t know what to expect but I didn’t think I would win it,” Gaskett said. “I went to show my grandfather [Michael Kemp] the next day and he said I’m pretty sure I won that.
“He found his medal in his hanky draw.”
Kemp won his in 1979 when he was playing for the Essendon High School Ex-Students side.
Gaskett said it would have been nice had he played for Keilor too, but it was still a special moment for the pair to both have won the medal adorning the Essendon full forward’s name.
“I was in real shock,” Gsskett said. “To do it 45 years apart that is crazy
“He was getting emotional as anytime he does when his grandkids do well. When we were getting the photo, he almost had tears in his eyes.
For Gaskett, it was a return to football this year.
Last year, he spent the winter in England. He went over with his brother Matthew, who was keen to play some cricket over there.
Jhett said he wanted to travel and cricket was just something to do over there.
Before that Gaskett had played juniors and under-18s at Keilor. He also played 15 games with the Western Jets in 2022.
Gaskett said he had so much fun this season.
“I was rapt,” he said. “I had a bit of time off footy and I came back to play with my mates.
“I loved it but I definitely didn’t expect it [winning the best and fairest].”
Topping off the season for Gaskett was a premiership. He said it was lot nicer to win it in the manner they did after his last premiership in 2019 came after the siren.
Gaskett said he was unlikely to play cricket in the off season. He’s got another sporting achievement in mind.
“I’ve always wanted to play senior football,” he said. “When I played juniors we used to play on a Sunday and then we’d watch the seniors and run water on the Saturday.
”I want to strive to play at the highest level I can. I want to knuckle down with footy pre-season and have a crack at breaking into a strong senior team and see what happens.”
