SUPER SIGGINS STREAKS AHEAD
Lauderdale ace surges to eight-vote lead in award race
ANOTHER three-vote performance in Saturday’s clash against North Hobart has seen Lauderdale star Sam Siggins amass an unattainable lead in the TSL Player of the Year award.
Siggins’ stellar season sees him sit on 27 votes with Launceston pair Jobi Harper (19) and Brodie Palfreyman (18) his closest rivals mathematically unable to catch the Bombers star with just two rounds left in the home-andaway season.
The 2020 Alastair Lynch Medallist was at his supreme best in the win over the Demons, collecting 35 disposals and kicking five goals in a dominant display.
Palfreyman was also awarded three-votes in the Blues win over Clarence, with the midfielder collecting 18 disposals, nine tackles, six clearances and seven inside 50s to go into outright third on the count.
And in a season where the Blues have only been defeated once – a 28-point loss to Siggins’ Bombers in round six – Palfreyman knows there is still a lot of footy to be played before they can lay claim to this season’s TSL premiership.
“We’ve had a really good year but we’ve just got to keep a level head and try not to get ahead of ourselves,” Palfreyman said.
“There’s still two games to go and then a finals series so there is plenty of footy still to play before we look towards another premiership.”
With skipper Jobi Harper missing a number of games this season with work commitments, Palfreyman has once again stepped up his game, taking on more responsibility in the Blues engine room and gaining more attention from opposition sides.
“I was dealt with a lot of injuries for the first few seasons of senior footy at Launceston but now I’ve been able to slowly build my fitness back up and been able to come into some good form,” Palfreyman said. “I really focused this year on playing consistent footy each week and I think that’s shown in my form throughout the season.”
After defeating third-place Clarence on Saturday, the Blues will face the secondplaced Tigers at Windsor Park on Saturday while Lauderdale will have the bye before facing the Tigers the following week.