For the first time, two players have tied for the Kevin Sheedy Medal with Nick Haynes and Lachie Whitfield jointly winning the award.
For Haynes, it’s his first club champion award, while Whitfield also makes history as the first player to win two Kevin Sheedy Medals in the club’s nine-year history, to go with his 2018 victory.
The pair tied on 98 votes, with young gun Harry Perryman finishing just two votes behind the duo to take home third place and his highest result in his four-year career.
It was a battle between the three for much of the vote count, with Perryman leading from Haynes after five rounds.
From there, Whitfield took the lead from Haynes and then Perryman after round nine, with Whitfield holding a seven-vote lead from Haynes with Perryman a further five votes behind heading into the final four games of the season.
After polling 11 votes in round 15 and seven votes in round 16, Haynes took the lead before Whitfield came home with 11 votes over the final three rounds to tie it up and make GIANTS history.
Coach Leon Cameron paid tribute to the top three:
“I’d like to congratulation Nick and Lachie on their outstanding 2020 seasons,” Cameron said.
“Nick has been a stalwart of our backline for years now and has always been incredibly highly valued internally with two top-five finishes before this year.
“He’s once again taken his game to another level this year and thoroughly deserves the accolades that have come his way.
“Lachie becomes the first player in our history to win two Sheedy Medals after another ultra-consistent season.
“Taking on an official leadership role ahead of this season shows his development off the field and on the field, we saw Lachie continue to show his class and work-rate across the entire season.
“I'd also like to congratulate Harry on the leaps he’s taken this year, which have culminated in this well-deserved third place.”
Midfielders Jacob Hopper and Josh Kelly rounded out the top five, finishing in equal-fourth place with 79 votes each.
Haynes also took home the Coaches Award as well as the Members Choice Award in a season where he earned his first All Australian honours.
Other award winners included last year’s number four draft pick Lachie Ash winning the Rising Star Award while the recently re-signed Jack Buckley took home the NEAFL Development Award.
Bobby Hill won the Mark of the Year for his high-flying effort in round 16 against the Crows while Brent Daniels scored the Goal of the Year for his phenomenal dribble goal in round 17 against the Demons. Jeremy Cameron took home his ninth Leading Goal Kicker award.
The Kevin Sheedy Medal is voted on by coach Leon Cameron as well as his assistant coaches Mark McVeigh, Brad Miller and Lenny Hayes. Up to four votes can be awarded to a player by each coach every round with each player able to receive a maximum of 16 votes per round.
2020 Kevin Sheedy Medal Top 10:
=1 Lachie Whitfield (98 votes)
=1 Nick Haynes (98 votes)
3 Harry Perryman (96)
=4 Jacob Hopper (79)
=4 Josh Kelly (79)
6 Brent Daniels (69)
=7 Toby Greene (68)
=7 Matt de Boer (68)
9 Aidan Corr (66)
10 Stephen Coniglio (58)
Award Winners
Rising Star Award, presented by Kia
Lachie Ash
NEAFL Development Award, presented by Bingo Industries
Jack Buckley
Members Choice Award, presented by St.George Bank
Nick Haynes
Mark of the Year, presented by Virgin Australia
Bobby Hill
Goal of the Year, presented by Toyo Tires
Brent Daniels
Leading Goal Kicker
Jeremy Cameron
Coaches Award, presented by Facilities First
Nick Haynes
