Springwood’s Alex Sexton won the division two McLean Medal and was judged Queensland’s best player at the NAB Australian U16 Championships after a narrow loss to Tasmania today.
Saturday, 10 July, 2010
The brave effort of the Australia Post Queensland Young Scorpions at the NAB Australian U16 Championships at Blacktown Stadium in Sydney came up just short today when they lost the division two grand final to Tasmania.
The Queenslanders led by a point at halftime and were level early in the final stanza after being 11 points down at the final change but ran out of steam in the finish.
So, they had to be content with second spot in coach Ray Windsor’s first year at the helm.
Springwood forward/midfielder Alex Sexton (pictured), who is on the Supplementary List with QAFL club Mt.Gravatt, was judged the Scorpions best player in the title decider and won the Queensland Most Valuable Player Award for the carnival.
He was judged Queensland’s best player in the Scorpions Game 1 win over NSW and the Game 3 loss to Tasmania, and third best in the Game 2 win over South Pacific.
He also finished as Queensland’s No.2 goal-kicker with a total of seven majors in the three games, behind only Aspley full forward Shaun Crook (10).
Later, Sexton was further delighted to win the Alan McLean Medal for the player judged best and fairest in the division two competition.
He follows in the footsteps fellow Queenslanders Michael Osborne (1998), Adam Hall (2003), Daniel Dzufer (2004), Declan Bevan (2007) and Jackson Allen (2009), AFL luminaries Adam Schneider (2000), Jarrad McVeigh and Raphael Clarke (2001), Richard Tambling (2002), Craig Bird (2005) and gun Gold Coast signing Maverick Weller (2008).
The final scoreline of Tasmania’s 11-10 (76) to Queensland’s 8-5 (53) today was more a reflection of the Young Scorpions tough campaign and heavy injury toll than any major difference in quality.
The Apple Islandes kicked five of the last six goals, including two in the last three minutes.
There was no excuses from the Queensland camp, but there is no doubting a physical battering at the hands of a bigger and stronger South Pacific team on Wednesday, when the Tasmanian had a comparatively low-impact game against the World XVIII, took its toll.
Also today, the northerners were effectively two down from the first quarter after captain James Ives and Ty Morrissey received early knocks.
Queensland were four points down at quarter-time but added 2-1 to 1-2 in the second term to pull level at the long break.
The third quarter was the killer. Tasmania kicked 3-1 to Queensland’s 1-1, and although the Scorpions kicked the first two goals of the final stanza to pull level they couldn’t finish off the job.
The statistics sheet told a story. The Tasmanian player at the bottom of the list had six possessions and kicked two goals, while Queensland had seven players who had less than six possessions.
“Our boys had a real crack but in the end the evenness of the Tassie side was just a little much,” said AFLQ Talent Manager Bob Batty.
Sexton was magnificent. He had 22 possessions, including 15 contested possessions, and kicked four of Queensland’s eight goals.
Daniel Brown, from Aspley, kicked two goals had 10 tackles in a superb effort, while Michael Wyld from Coorparoo restricted gun Tasmanian forward Sam Siggons to nine possessions and no shots on goal.
Morningside’s Brian Coleman-Broom, who missed Game 2 against South Pacific with a hamstring injury, did well just to get out on the paddock and was an important contributor in a back pocket and later up on the wing.
Andrew Boston from Broadbeach had 26 possessions and 10 marks on the other wing, and Jono Freeman from Noosa did a mighty job locking the ball in the Queensland forward zone with nine tackles.
Match Details
Tasmania 2-6 3-8 6-9 11-10 (76)
Queensland 2-2 4-3 6-5 8-5-53
Qld Goals: Alex Sexton 4, Daniel Brown 2, Tom Davidson 1, Shaun Crook 1.
Qld Best: Alex Sexton, Daniel Brown, Michael Wyld, Brian Coleman-Brown, Andrew Boston, Jono Freeman.
