AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) is pleased to have assembled a quality panel to help decide the best performer in the Women’s and Men’s Premier League Grand Finals, with the winner to receive the distinguished Williams and Chaney Medal, presented by TIO.
2021 NAB AFLW Community Cup Ambassador Lateesha Jeffrey will fill the Women’s Williams Medal panel position reserved for a notable NT football person. Jeffrey has dedicated over ten years of service to the game, playing over 150 games in the NTFL, has coached/assistant coached youth girls at both the local and state level, as well as herself playing and captaining the NT Thunder Women’s team. This is the first time she will have the task of helping to select the Women’s Williams medallist.
Tash Medbury who has commentated a number of NTFL games over the past few seasons, including with Aboriginal Broadcasting this season, will also help determine the Williams Medal winner.
The third Williams Medal panellist is experienced coach and administrator, Simon Hargrave, who became AFLNT's Manager of Talent in November last year and knows a skilful, impactful player when he sees one.
For the Men’s Chaney Medal, KJ Taylor will fill the role of a notable football person from the Territory. Taylor was Coach of the NT representative side an incredible 18 times winning the Division Two Bicentennial Carnival in 1988, a pivotal moment for NT Football.
Taylor was also named Coach of the Back to Cyclone Tracy Team of Two Decades and received the illustrious NT Government Award for excellence in sport in 1994 and 1996.
Awarded Life Membership of the NTFL in 1997 and the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, he was inducted into the AFLNT Hall of Fame in 2010, in recognition for his immeasurable contribution to the NTFL.
Sports Editor of the NT News, Grey Morris will join the Chaney Medal Panel after 27 years of writing about Territory footy. Morris has a great passion for sport in the Top End of Australia and knows all about the who’s-who the NTFL. A great addition to the panel!
The third Chaney Medal Panellist, NT Thunder Academy Coach Jason Roe will provide great insight into the appointment of the most impactful player of the Men’s Premier League Grand Final. Roe has extensive experience as a player including stints with the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood in the AFL, North Adelaide in the SANFL and most recently finishing off his playing career in the NTFL and NT Thunder in the NEAFL.
Last season it was Southern Districts’ Grace Mulvahil and Nightcliff's Trent Melville who were identified as the most impactful players in the Croc’s and Tigers' respective premiership victory.
As is stated in the NTFL By-Laws (2020-21 edition) each member of the panel will award votes to the players they deem to be the best and fairest participating in the match.
Each judge will watch the game independently and then vote 5-4-3-2-1, whereby five votes are awarded to the player they determine to be the best performer, four votes to the second-best and so on.
An AFLNT official will then collate and tally all votes, and a full tally of votes will be released early next week.
In the case of a tie, a countback will take place, and the winner will be declared based on whoever received the most ‘five votes’. If the result is still tied, then it will be declared on the most ‘four votes’ and so on.
In all other grand finals this weekend it will be the field umpires who collectively award votes to the player they judge to be the best and fairest from the match.
Each grand final will have a best on ground medal, sponsored by TIO but for whom the medal is named after. The winner will also get a TIO branded Sherrin to keep.
