Jack Charleston, proudly holding his Western Jets best-and-fairest award. 71366
By Liam Twomey
JACK Charleston capped off an outstanding TAC Cup season by winning the Barry Round Medal for the Western Jets’ best-and-fairest player on Wednesday.
Charleston lined up in the Yellow and Blue 18 times this year and finished the season with nine goals and 14 best-on-ground nominations.
He played a big part in the Jets winning their first final for 15 years and wowed team-mates, coaches and supporters with his consistency over a long year.
Western Jets region manager Shane Sexton said it was great reward for a great season.
“The night was a huge success, it was very good for the club,” Sexton said.
“He (Charleston) had an outstanding season. He was consistent from the start to the finish and it was an excellent outcome for him.”
“It’s all in the lap of the AFL recruiters now. He will certainly from our view go on and play football at a high standard somewhere.”
Charleston was also the highest placed Jet at the Morrish Medal two weeks ago, which rewards the best overall player in the TAC Cup.
Will Hoskin-Elliot finished second in polling, which was an incredible effort given the number of matches he missed through Vic Metro representation and injury.
He was able to find his best form at the half-way mark of the season and kept the high standard going for the rest of the year.
“He probably started a little bit slow but he gained confidence after the practice match phase.
He went to Europe and got involved in the Vic Metro under-18 winning team and he really never looked back,” Sexton said.
Other winners on the night included Adam Kennedy for the most consistent player, Lachlan Fairley, most courageous, Ashlin Brown, coaches’ award and Lachie Hunter, most improved player.
The Jets’ players now turn their attention to national and state draft combines and then the big one, the national draft.
“We just tell them to keep doing everything well, that’s really all you can say. It’s just a matter of making sure that you continue to do everything as well as you possibly can,” Sexton said.
In the lower age groups, Dillon Rainbow and Jake Greiser won the under-15 and under-16 players of the year respectively. A number of the Jets who attended the night will be back in the Yellow and Blue again next year ensuring another good year could be on the way.
“We played a lot of bottom age kids this year so there will be quite a few kids coming back,” Sexton said.
