Great Taste. Low Carb & Mid-Strength. How Good.
Sturt’s Will Snelling and Norwood’s Harry Boyd proudly display their Magarey Medals. Photos: David Mariuz
Will Snelling is hugged by mum Cathy after his emotional win.
HIGH EMOTIONS BY ANDREW CAPEL, THE ADVERTISER “I didn’t want a vote in the last game.” With those words, Norwood ruckman Harry Boyd summed up his enormous respect for Sturt counterpart Will Snelling. “With what he’s done this year and the challenges he’s faced, not only as a footballer but as a person, to be able to share it with him is a great honour and I’m happy to be called a joint Magarey Medallist with Will Snelling,” Boyd said after an emotional count at Adelaide Oval on Monday night. In one of the most thrilling Magarey Medal counts of all-time, Boyd and Snelling entered the final round level on a staggering 34 votes each. Sturt’s Round 19 votes against Adelaide were read first and the midfield ball magnet failed to poll in the Double Blues’ hard-fought 14-point win. Boyd knew he couldn’t lose but he – and an anxious Snelling – were left holding their breath as the final votes were called from the Norwood-Eagles clash, which the Redlegs won by 75 points. Like Snelling, he failed to poll after having a tough battle with Eagles giant Jarrad Redden. It was the perfect result, with the two players who dominated the SANFL minor round jointly crowned as the State league competition’s fairest and most brilliant players.
Boyd broke the Magarey’s ruck curse, the 26-year-old becoming the first ruckman since Port Adelaide’s Ryan O’Connor in 2001 to win the Medal and only the second in 73 years. The previous ruck winner was Norwood great John Marriott in 1951. Snelling’s win was just as popular. The 27-year-old – a 2015 West Adelaide premiership player – claimed the Medal in his first season at Sturt and just two months after the sudden death of his dad and greatest supporter, Paul. An emotional Snelling dedicated his Medal win to his dad and said sharing it with Boyd was “really fitting”. “Given what’s transpired, I think it’s great I played a stinker in that last game,” he said with a laugh. “It is a really fitting result. I had a bit of a lead there towards the end but I knew, given what a quality player Harry is, he would come home with a wet sail. To be able to share the Medal with him is incredible.” Snelling said he had been riding an emotional rollercoaster since his dad’s shock passing and in the immediate aftermath “footy was my only release”. “It’s hard to put words to it all. It was really daunting going back to the club,” said Snelling, who missed two games following his
dad’s death. “But as soon as I got back there everyone was amazing and really got me out of a bit of a hole. The club was a bit of a safe haven for me.” The 175cm pocket rocket said his dad would be proud of his win. “He’s always been proud and I think he would be really proud about this, I think it reflects how much work he put into me,” he said. “I like telling people how he never missed a game. In my five years in Melbourne (with AFL club Essendon from 201923) he would either drive or fly over every weekend to be there to watch. In my entire career I reckon he would have missed less than 10 games, including during Covid. He’s a massive loss and football’s not the same without him and I have felt that in the past few weeks. Emotionally it’s been really taxing, really tough, but I’m just really happy to be able to share this with the rest of the family because they’ve helped keep me upright in the past month or so. Winning the Medal is a collective effort.” Snelling’s mum Cathy rode the emotional rollercoaster of the exciting count, delighted and proud, along with being relieved Will’s two-game absence hadn’t cost him a thoroughly deserved Magarey Medal. sanfl.com.au
3