With the season reaching its halfway point it’s time to look back at which GIANTS are shaping as the Kevin Sheedy Medallist for 2016.
Heath Shaw’s early season form sees him as a chance to be the first Medallist to go back-to-back, with the backman averaging 25.4 disposals and 8.7 marks per game.
Shaw will be a great chance to take the most votes away from the GIANTS round nine win over the Western Bulldogs. The 30-year-old racked up a career high 38 disposals, 36 of those kicks with a disposal efficiency of 97 per cent.
Inaugural winner Callan Ward will be one to watch when the vote gets underway as the ball winning midfielder averages 25.1 possessions per game.
Ward is also sits 18th on the AFL’s Player Ratings behind team-mate Dylan Shiel.
Shiel is near certainty to finish high in the count with the AFL Player Ratings considering him the 14th best player in the competition.
The 23-year-old has been a standout in the GIANTS' star studded midfield, averaging a club-best 28.4 disposals per game. He’s also already caught the eye of coach Leon Cameron and the competition’s other coaches.
Shiel sits eighth on the AFL Coaches Association leaderboard with 45 votes and picked up a full 10 votes as best on ground in the GIANTS' win over Carlton in round 14.
From a fans' point of view Toby Greene is leading the way. The midfielder turned forward has polled 167 votes in the Fans MVP, 16 votes ahead of midfielder Stephen Coniglio. Ward sits in third spot with 139 votes, two votes ahead of Shaw.
Coniglio is also shaping up as a potential front-runner in the count, averaging 28.3 disposals and 5.2 tackles a game.
His best chances to poll well are in rounds four and seven when he collected more than 30 possessions and kicked at least a goal in the GIANTS' wins.
The Kevin Sheedy medal isn’t all about the midfielders though, with forward Jeremy Cameron winning the Medal in 2013 and ruckman Shane Mumford taking it home in 2014.
Cameron is a chance to pick up best on ground honors in the round eight win over Gold Coast, which saw him kick an equal club record seven goals.
The GIANTS' all time leading goal kicker is also likely to receive votes in rounds five and nine when he kicked five goals on both occasions.
Mumford has been more than consisted in the ruck in 2016, averaging 33.8 hit-outs a game and leads the club alongside Coniglio for most tackles (68).
Greene may find himself getting votes in the Kevin Sheedy medal as he averages 22 disposals and two goals a game in 2016.
The 22-year-old went on a hot streak between rounds five and 13 kicking 25 goals in eight games.
His best performance came in the round five win over St Kilda when he took nine marks, kicked 4.3 and collected 34 possessions in the win.
Star recruit Steve Johnson could also see a few votes come his way, the evergreen 32-year-old averages 19.8 disposals and two goals a game.
Like Greene, he starred in the win over St Kilda kicking 4.1, while he kicked five goals and had 25 touches in the GIANTS' round six demolition of Hawthorn.
Down back last year’s winner Shaw has been joined by co-captain Phil Davis and Matt Buntine as the rocks of defence.
Davis and Buntine have been rarely beaten by their opponents in 2016 and will pick up votes for the roles they played in the GIANTS’ six game winning streak between round four and nine.
Injuries may hold the defensive duo back from winning the Sheedy Medal but they are sure to poll well.
The Kevin Sheedy Medal is voted on by Head Coach Leon Cameron as well as his Assistant Coaches with up to four votes able to be awarded to a player by each coach every round.
