Tara Murray
Burnside Heights Jordan Hughes and Coburg Districts’ Cooper Keogh admit they didn’t see eye to eye on the field.
The two stars of the Essendon District Football League division 2 competition shared words on the field as both pushed to go deep into finals.
But last Wednesday the pair couldn’t be split as they shared the competition’s division 2 best and fairest medal.
The two finished on 22 votes to take out the medal.
For Hughes, the Bears captain, being at the awards night was something new in itself.
“I was just happy to be part of it and recognised in that top five as there were a lot of good players including Cooper in our league.
“It’s awesome to be here.”
Hughes took his game to another level this year, as he stepped up as one of the Bears leaders in a young side.
He said it took him a while to get going after the COVID break last year.
“Once I sort of got into the groove in the pre-season, the match fitness came back reasonably well,” he said.
“I thought I was reasonably consistent which I wanted to be. Being one of the older guys at the club, I wanted to be a model of consistency for the younger blokes.”
The Bears shocked most people in making finals, but Hughes said internally they had set higher expectations.
Their season came to an end in the first week of finals, at the hands of Keogh’s Lions. Hughes played that final with broken ribs disappointed he was restricted to playing at full forward and not in the middle of the ground.
“He still kicked six,” Keogh was quick to jump in and say.
For Keogh he didn’t know what to expect heading into the awards night. He said it was nice to play a full season of football.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect, you get different options on whether you’re chance or not,” he said.
“Someone told me it was only the top two [gets invited] , some said it’s the whole team of the year.
“I didn’t know what to expect. It is obviously nice to win it and share it with a great player, someone I hated on the field.”
Hughes was named in the team of the year along with teammate Theodore Sapountzis, Liam Mercieca and Anthony Fawcus.
Keilor Park’s Paul Guicas was named coach of the team of the year, with Devils star Robbie Castello named captain of the team.
In premier division, Strathmore’s Will Jury won the Reynolds Medal. Westmeadows’ Gemma Wright made it back-to-back best and fairests in the women’s premier division.
In division 1, Airport West’s Tyson Young and Tullamarine’s Shaun McKernan tied for the Hutchison Medal.
Eloise Freeman was the women’s division 1 best and fairest and Cheyene Macumber won the division 2 best and fairest.
