TOUGH Albury centreman Shaun Daly last night emulated the feat of his uncle Jack O’Halloran by capturing the Ovens and Murray’s Morris Medal.
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In a thrilling finale to the count, Daly held off Tigers teammate Chris Hyde by a vote to follow in the footsteps of O’Halloran who was judged the league’s best player for Wangaratta in 1975 and 1976.
Daly failed to add to his 23 votes in round 18, while Hyde picked up two to give the reigning premier a quinella and another boost in confidence heading into Sunday’s grand final against Yarrawonga.
The
“It was definitely unexpected,” an emotional Daly said after becoming the first Albury player to win the medal since Leigh Newton in 1996.
“I thought my good mate Hydey on the table behind me was going to win it because he’s been fantastic all season.
“My uncle won the medal and it’s a huge honour to follow in his footsteps and some great Albury players like Tim Scott over the years.”
You got all the results first here in our Morris Medal live blog.
Click play to re-live the action.
Wangaratta Rovers ruckman Karl Norman (21), ineligible Myrtleford midfielder Harley Ryan (17) and Wodonga Raiders captain Mark Doolan (15) rounded out the top five.
Daly, Hyde and Norman shared the lead on 18 votes after 15 rounds before Daly bolted clear by polling two and three votes respectively against Wodonga Raiders
and Yarrawonga in rounds
16 and 17.
Daly, who played his junior football with Howlong, joined the Murray Bushrangers as a schoolboy and almost imme-diately broke into Corowa-
Rutherglen’s senior team.
He then had a stint with South Adelaide before returning to Victoria where he won three successive best and fairests with Mornington-Peninsula Football League club Keysborough.
Daly, 26, joined Albury in 2009 and, along with Hyde and Joel Mackie, has formed one of the most lethal midfields the O?and?M has seen in the modern era.
He wasted little time in his turning his attention to Sunday’s grand final at Lavington Oval.
“This is fantastic, but the club has two football and two netball teams into the grand finals and it’s a big day,” he said.