Three O and M hard heads have shared the tag of the toughest.
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Rugged Albury forward-midfielder Joel Mackie, courageous Wangaratta Rovers’ co-coach Sam Carpenter and nuggety Wangaratta on-baller Matt Kelly gained seven votes apiece from the 40 polled.
Albury co-coach Shaun Daly was one further back.
“It’s always good to get recognised by opposition players, whether it’s playing good footy or whether it’s playing tough footy,” Carpenter said of the honour, which is always rated so highly at any level.
“I always try and put my head over the ball and have a crack.
It’s always good to get recognised by opposition players, whether it’s playing good footy or whether it’s playing tough footy.
- Sam Carpenter
“When you get a bit older (Carpenter’s 31), you probably don’t go quite as hard as you used to.
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“You might get a bit smarter and you might try and run forward or run to the outside of the contest.”
Carpenter has enormous respect for both Mackie and Kelly.
“They’re the type of players I like playing against because you know you’ve got to try and go harder than what they’re going,” he said.
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