Northern Territory star Abraham Ankers is the early pace-setter in the Morris Medal after producing a sublime performance against Myrtleford on Saturday night.
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In front of a bumper home crowd of 2020, Ankers kicked another three goals and racked up more than 25 disposals in the 15.23 (113) to 7.5 (47) win.
Quite remarkably, the Pies had kicked 1.16 to half-time to trail by 10 points.
However, the dynamic midfielder set the scene for an inspired third term, setting up Ben Reid in the first 20 seconds and landing the best goal minutes later.
Ankers started the movement near the boundary around 80m from goal by using his pace to break free and then handball to a team-mate, before receiving it back, burning off his opponent, cutting inside and nailing the goal.
"It's his speed, his composure, his workrate from contest to contest, he's absolutely elite," coach Dean Stone offered.
"He's one of the best we've seen here for 10-15 years."
Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay the diminutive speedster is there's a Brodie Filo element to his play.
Filo spent two full years in the O and M from 2017, finishing joint runner-up in the Morris Medal the first year before claiming it the second time.
His wizardry will never be forgotten by those who saw it and while Ankers hasn't produced the miracle goals from the boundary like Filo did, it certainly won't surprise, given his talents.
The match turned completely in the first 18 minutes of the third term with the Pies blasting five goals to open a 16-point lead.
They were never challenged from there and finished with 14 goals to two after half-time.
"I suppose I wanted to see where we matched up and we well and truly found out tonight, which was good," a surprisingly upbeat Myrtleford co-coach Jake Sharp, who missed the match with an ankle complaint, said.
While Ankers was again the star, fellow on-baller Joe Richards was the second best player for the second successive week.
He also clocked up 25-plus disposals and appears to glide across the surface as he blasts away from opponents.
Former AFL player Callum Moore was strong, starting the game as a giant ruck-rover, while Ben Speight kicked four goals.
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And Ben Reid looks to now have the mantle of the Pies' most dangerous big man, kicking four goals, while long-time holder Michael Newton was inaccurate, although he nabbed two late.
Gutsy Nathan Laracy was Myrtleford's best, while brothers Brady and Ryley Sharp were excellent.
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