IT'S awards season and four young AFL footballers have been recognised by their peers.
WHICHEVER way you turn this month, expect the languid frame of Lance Franklin to be in most places you look where there's talk about footy.
And so it should be.
The rising superstar of AFL football is dominating the airwaves and conversations like no other and with Hawthorn on the rise and serious contenders to give Geelong a shake this month, that is set to increase ten-fold.
So it stands to reason, then, that Franklin's peers have nominated him for the AFL Players' Association's MVP Award, the Leigh Matthews Trophy.
Hawks team-mate Cyril Rioli, favourite for tomorrow's Rising Star award, Melbourne's Austin Wonaeamirri and Adelaide's Jarrhan Jacky have also caught the eye of their peers. All three have been nominated for the AFLPA's Best First Year Player award (this award is different from the Rising Star award in that only players in their first contract year are eligible to win).
The players are four of 48 AFL footballers nominated for the AFLPA's annual awards. The process to decide the winners comes via voting from every AFL player in the competition this season. (Players cannot vote for their own team-mates.)
The winner will be announced on Monday, September 8, at a function televised in Melbourne on Fox Sports 1.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Last Modified on 02/09/2008 22:52