Medal reward for Brad’s good year
NORTH Launceston’s powerful playing-coach Brad Cox-Goodyer claimed the Alastair Lynch Medal for the second time on Monday night and brought it home to the Northern Bombers for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Cox-Goodyer won this year’s TSL’s best and fairest player award with 23 votes, beating unheralded Tigers onballer Will Campbell, with the tough-as-nails ballwinning bull polling 19 votes.
Clarence onballer Ethan Jackson, who was ineligible
due to suspension, and the TSL’s new games recordholder Jay Blackberry were equal third on 16 votes.
Highlighting the brilliant year of the Tigers, Campbell’s teammate Eddie Cole (14 votes) was fifth.
Cox-Goodyer won his first Lynch Medal in 2017, his former premiership teammate Josh Ponting won it in 2018 and 2019, and Lauderdale’s Sam Siggins claimed it last year, and was sixth this year.
It was the eighth time in 12 seasons the Lynch award had gone to a player from a northern team. Only Clarence playing-coach Brett Geappen
(2010) and Glenorchy star Jaye Bowden (2012, 15 and 16) have won it from the south.
It has been a monster year for Cox-Goodyer.
The first-time senior coach and five-time North Launceston premiership player, twice as captain, reached his 200game milestone in July, and will lead North Launceston in its eighth consecutive grand final against Launceston at UTas Stadium on Sunday.
Cox-Goodyer was at Launceston’s preliminary final demolition of Clarence at Windsor Park on Sunday.
“It just confirmed what we always thought – Launceston
are the team to beat and have been all year. They showed that against Clarence,” CoxGoodyer said.
“They have got some powerful bodies around the footy and dangerous forwards, so they are certainly going to be a handful.”
North Launceston grabbed first place in the grand final with a stunning win over Launceston at the Blues’ home ground in the second semi-final two weeks ago.
The Bombers would rather face them at UTas Stadium.
“UTas suits us a lot better than any other ground,” CoxGoodyer said.
“We like to think we’ve got some genuine leg-speed on the outside with some of our younger guys.
“We truly believe that if we play the way we want to play and stick to what we know, we’re a massive sniff.”
With a two-week break, the Northern Bombers are rested and injury-free, making selection night a headache for Cox-Goodyer and his coaching panel.
“We’ve got an extended squad because our Development League side unfortunately fell short at the weekend,” he said. “We will have a full squad to pick from.”