Williamstown onballer Michael Gibbons has won the 2016 JJ Liston Trophy for best-and-fairest in the VFL.
Gibbons becomes only the sixth Seagulls player in history to claim the VFL’s top honour.
He is the first since ruckman Paul Dooley, who claimed the award in 1996.
Gibbons won Monday night’s vote count at Crown with 17 votes, ahead of Geelong’s George Horlin-Smith (15), teammate Ben Jolley and Port Melbourne’s Toby Pinwill (both 14).
For Gibbons, this season was about making the most of his opportunities after extra minutes opened up in the midfield with Adam Marcon being drafted to Richmond.
After a best-on-ground performance in last year’s grand final win over Box Hill Hawks, Gibbons has taken his game up to another level. He said Seagulls coach Andy Collins had talked with him about how he would be given more of an opportunity in the midfield.
“[He] put it on me that if I didn’t get fit enough and if I didn’t take my opportunity, then he wasn’t going to play me,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons, originally from Coolamon in country NSW, responded in the best possible way to produce his most complete season.
The 21-year-old is equally as damaging on the inside of packs as he is with run and carry.
The Murray Bushrangers product is comfortable on either side of the body.
Gibbons credits Collins for holding him to high standards.
In the middle of last season, Gibbons was surprisingly banished to the development league team, needing to work on some aspects of his game.
Two months later, he was a senior premiership player and a Norm Goss Medal-winner as the star of the grand final.
“There were some things I needed to go back and work on, mainly defensive stuff,” Gibbons said.
“Collo’s pretty firm with me – as much as he puts trust in me, he still puts me back in my place when I need to be. That’s why I respect him so much.”
It was Collins and Seagulls football manager Chris Dixon who sold Gibbons on the idea of joining Williamstown.
Gibbons had been overlooked at the AFL draft, but was not about to give up on his football dream.
“When I was 18, I put all my eggs into one basket and that was getting drafted,” Gibbons said.
“When it didn’t happen, mum and dad wanted to get rid of me, so they sent me down to Melbourne and it’s worked out pretty well.
“I couldn’t have picked a better club with Williamstown – all the boys are unbelievable and I’ve made friends for life. It’s a great place to be around each week.”
It would be surprising if Gibbons did not realise his dream of being drafted to the AFL later this year.
He has the skill set, drive and courage needed to make the step up to the big league.
But first, Gibbons has a key role to play in Williamstown’s midfield in Sunday’s VFL preliminary final against Casey Scorpions at North Port Oval.
“The boys are super keen to give it a red hot crack,” Gibbons said. “We don’t want the season to end this week.”
