By LIAM TWOMEY
JUST one point separated Deer Park and Spotswood in the Western Region Football League grand final and the two clubs were involved in another nail-biting finish at the Barry Priest Medal last week.
The Lions’ Shannon Broadbent and the Woodsmen’s Chris O’Keefe tied for the award which is given to the league’s best and fairest player.
The victory for Broadbent caps off a remarkable first season at Deer Park.
From his 21 matches during the year, he was named in the best players 11 times and kicked nine goals.
He also played an instrumental part in the Lions coming back from 41 points down to topple Spotswood in the grand-final and was named best on ground.
For O’Keefe it is the second time he has won the Barry Priest Medal after also claiming the prestigious award last year.
However, in both years Spotswood lost the grand final by a point to Altona and Deer Park respectively.
“In the six years I have had at Spotswood, it didn’t take me very long to understand the standing of Barry Priest as a man in the league,” O’Keefe said.
“From a personal point of view it is fantastic. It is a great honour.
“I can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed with the fact we have lost two grand finals and they have happened to be the same years I have won two medals.
“As I said to Barry before, don’t take it personally but I would trade the two medals for four points to make the results the other way. It is a team game that we play and we are all about the success and premierships.”
For O’Keefe and his Spotswood teammates, the pain of grand final day has not yet healed.
“Last year was bad, this year was a million times worse,” O’Keefe said.
“It took a while to get over last year and that was a real driving force from a personal point of view. I wanted to really make sure that it didn’t happen again and for it to happen again was gut-wrenching really. It is going to take a fair bit longer to move on.”
After standing down as Spotswood coach after the grand-final, O’Keefe’s future has been a hot topic of discussion in WRFL circles.
However, at this stage he is yet to make a decision on whether he will continue playing at the club next season.
“It is one of those ones, I thought I would get away for a couple of weeks after the grand final and come back with a clearer mind. I am still a bit unsure,” he said.
“I am undecided at the minute but I will figure it all out in the next couple of weeks and go from there.”
