But the talented half-forward had his money firmly on co-coach Hamish Clark.

“I was very surprised to win it,” Burhop said.

“There were a lot of guys who had good years.

“I thought ‘Hammer’ (Clark) would.

“Probably ‘Hammer’ or Matt McNamara.”

History shows Burhop finished two votes ahead of Clark and McNamara with the South Wagga Tennis Club coach now turning his attention to Saturday’s second semi-final against Federal at Bullioh.

Burhop played for Wodonga in 2015 before spending 2016 playing winter tennis.

“I love it at Bullioh,” he said.

“It’s a great club.

“I’ve enjoyed my footy more than ever.

“I used to work at the Wodoga Tennis Centre and it came about through Shayne Ried.

“We lost a grand final last year so I wanted to make sure we stayed out there to try and get the job done.”

Burhop has kicked an impressive 52 goals playing as a high half-forward, forming a lethal attack with Clark (62) and Brandyn Phillips (32).

Despite Bullioh being undefeated during the home and away series, Burhop said last year’s finals disaster was a constant reminder to stay focused on the task at hand.

The Bulldogs finished on top of the ladder last season but went down to Corryong by 28 points in the second semi-final.

It then bounced back with a comfortable preliminary final victory over Border-Walwa before suffering a 62-point loss to Corryong in the grand final.

“It’s going to be a tough contest against Federal,” Burhop said.

“As we know from last year, we finished on top and couldn’t get the job done in the finals.

“They have a couple of really good players.

“It’s going to take our best.”

Bullioh has been generating plenty of run off half-back through Mark Nichol and Kelvin Wallace which has presented scoring opportunities further afield.

The Swans are set to regain big forward Keiran Brennan.

His availability will help Mitch Paton and Tim Seymour who kicked 42 and 44 goals during the home and away series.

“Bullioh’s obviously a very good side so we will have to be on our game,” coach Gerard Midson said.

“We will try and put pressure on and see what unfolds from there.”

In the reserves, the Bulldogs take on Cudgewa and Bullioh play Federal in the under-13s.