Medal win places Duryea in elite company
Fraser Duryea from Northern Beaches can add the 2022 Brian Saville Medal to the two he already won in 2016 and 2021.
Fraser Duryea has won the Brian Saville Medal for a third time.
His wins in 2016, 2021 and now 2022 sees the Northern Beaches star join Brian Rava, Mark Couzens and Jesse Schmidt as three time winners of the Brian Saville Medal.
Duryea finished the 2022 season with 19 votes from the umpires, three votes ahead of Port Macquarie’s co-coach Braden Saggers.
Incredibly, this year’s top two in the count was the exact replica of the top two from 2021.
Grafton young gun Mikey Luxton finished in third position.
Duryea stated the count quickly, polling at least one vote in each of the Blues’ first six matches.
After Round 12 the leaderboard showed the 31 year-old had a five vote lead over Saggers but that margin reduced dramatically in the next round when the Magpies’ co-coach polled three votes in a best on ground effort against Sawtell/Toormina.
Neither player was able to poll another vote until the second last round of the season when Duryea was awarded three votes when his team was comfortably beaten at Ellem Oval. Thise votes were enough to ensure Duryea entered the rarest of AFL North Coast air.
2022 BRIAN SAVILLE MEDAL
19 – Fraser Duryea (Northern Beaches)
16 – Braden Saggers (Port Macquarie)
13 – Michael Luxton (Grafton)
9 – Aidan Wallace (Coffs Breakers), Tom Dickson (Port Macquarie)
7 – Malcolm Trotter (Coffs Breakers), Clancy O’Neill (Grafton)
6 – Hamish Anderson (Sawtell/Toormina), Matt Giri (Coffs Breakers)
5 – Jaymus Troutman (Sawtell/Toormina), Ned O’Neill (Grafton), Tyrone Jones (Coffs Breakers), Callum O’Loughlin (Grafton), Braiden Needham (Grafton)
MULTIPLE BRIAN SAVILLE MEDAL WINNERS
3 – Brian Rava (Sawtell/Toormina) 1991-92, 1998
3 – Mark Couzens (Sawtell/Toormina) 2007, 2009, 2014
3 – Jesse Schmidt (Port Macquarie) 2012-13, 2015
3 – Fraser Duryea (Coffs Breakers and Northern Beaches) 2016, 2021-22
2 – Jeff Reed (Coffs Swans) 1994-95
2 – Troy Mirkin (Grafton and North Coffs) 1989, 2001
2 – Brad Giri (North Coffs) 2002, 2007
2 – Luke Matthews (Sawtell/Toormina) 2010, 2017
