Walsh of the Blues has been awarded AFL finals player of the year.
Sam Walsh, a Carlton midfielder, has won the AFL coaches’ award for player of the finals series.
Over three games, including the Blues’ preliminary final loss to the Brisbane Lions, the prolific ball-winner received 23 votes in the Gary Ayres Award.
He received 2.5 more votes than Lions playmaker Keidean Coleman (20.5).
Bobby Hill (19) of Collingwood finished third after scoring four goals in the season decider.
Rival coaches Craig McRae and Chris Fagan concurred with the Norm Smith Medal voting panel, giving Hill a maximum of ten votes for his performance in the grand final.
The grand final votes are given an additional 50% loading, therefore Hill received 15.
Walsh had a hamstring injury late in the season but returned in round 24 and was excellent in September.
The 23-year-old received eight votes in Carlton’s six-point elimination final victory over Sydney and a perfect ten in a two-point semi-final victory over Melbourne.
Walsh received five votes more in the Blues’ season-ending 16-point loss to eventual runners-up Brisbane.
Coleman scored 10.5 votes for his grand final performance, while Collingwood studs Nick Daicos and Jack Crisp each received six votes.
Magpies midfielders Tom Mitchell and Scott Pendlebury received three votes each, while Brisbane forward Joe Daniher received one.
The Gary Ayres Award, named after the former Hawthorn champion who played in five championship teams and won two Norm Smith awards, was in its ninth year.
Dustin Martin of Richmond has won the prize three times.
Previous winners include Collingwood winger Steele Sidebottom, retiring Sydney captain Josh Kennedy, Western Bulldogs star Jack Macrae, and Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield.
Mason Cox becomes the second American to win the AFL championship.
Collingwood scuffle Mason Cox spent the first 23 years of his life blissfully uninformed of Australian rules football, and now he’s at the summit of the sport.
Cox began his sporting career in college basketball while growing up in Texas, over 15,000 kilometers from Melbourne, before being invited to the 2014 US International Combine for potential AFL players.
Cox, who stands at 211cm, impressed the Magpies with his skills and was taken with pick 60 in the 2015 rookie selection.
Cox had a premiership medal and an American flag around his neck late Saturday afternoon, nine years after being scouted – and an Australian tint in his accent.
“It’s a full circle moment,” he explained to AAP.
“It’s crazy to think that I never heard of the sport before becoming a premiership player.”
It’s very amazing to think back on everything and how much I’ve learnt and grown as a person.”
Cox is the second American-born AFL premiership player, following West Coast’s Don Pyke in 1992 and 1994.
Mike Pyke, a Canadian, was also a member of Sydney’s 2012 premiership team.
Cox says that the road to glory has been difficult and at times painful.
Cox, known for his protective eyewear, has had both eyes injured.
Cox suffered a torn retina in the other eye following an inadvertent poke against Gold Coast less than a year after an altercation in the 2018 grand final loss resulted in a detached retina in one eye.
Since then, the 32-year-old has had six surgeries: three on his left eye, two on his right, and cataract surgery.
He was compelled to spend two weeks in bed in a darkened room for 45 minutes of each hour, which he described as the “darkest moment of my life” at the time.
Cox attributes his perseverance to Collingwood coach Craig McRae’s encouragement.
“It’s been a journey over nine years, ups and downs and all around, losing eyesight and injuries and everything else,” Cox stated.
“‘He (McRae) is without a doubt the reason I’m here. He’s a father figure to all of us, including me. He’s been there from the start to the finish.
“There was no one else I’d rather play for so it’s amazing to be able to repay him for what he’s been able to give me in my life and my experiences as a player.”
