ANTHONY Grounds has been a loyal servant of the Cootamundra Bulldogs for more than a decade and that
devotion was rewarded again on Sunday night when the hard working back rower won the 2009 Les Boyd Medal.
Grounds claimed the initial Boyd Medal, struck in 2007 in honour of a man who has done more for the Bulldogs both on and off the field than most, and it was Boyd who first lured Grounds to the Dogs’ kennel in 1998.
Boyd’s persistence in gaining the signature of Grounds reaped immediate rewards as the man commonly known as ‘Butch’ claimed the S and C Club Player of the Year (the award replaced by the Les Boyd Medal) in his debut season in the blue and white, while he backed it up by claiming the title again in 1999.
Grounds, whose high workload and punishing defence is a feature of his game, also finished runner-up to Scott England in 2002 and to Joel Pettit in 2006, while he constantly finished in the top four or five of the S and C Club Player of the Year which was always a combined first and reserve grade award.
His win on Sunday night was the fourth time he has been named as the Bulldogs’ best, underlining just how dominant a player he is.
That reputation was enhanced by Boyd on Sunday night when he stated there could be ‘no disputing’ Grounds’ victory.
“If I was going to pick a team to play around, Butch would definitely be in it,” Boyd said.
“He’s a great player who has given great service to this club and I congratulate him on another excellent season.”
Prior to Sunday night, votes for the first 11 rounds had been tallied.
Five-eighth Nathan McGowan held sway on 61 points, 10 clear of Grounds, while Tom Sellars with 40 votes, Phil Latu 37, Willie Purcell 36 and David Letele 30 had all polled well.
It was over the final five rounds of the competition that Grounds asserted his authority.
To add to the anticipation, voting slips for the five games selected randomly, with the first of these to be open being the match against Tumbarumba.
With a maximum of 18 votes available for each round (six slips of three, two, one), any one of the top six players were still in contention, but many believed it was a race in two.
Grounds collected an astonishing 15 votes to jump to 66, while McGowan added seven to his tally to hang onto a two-vote lead.
Again Southcity Grounds went as close as possible to the ‘perfect game’ by polling 17 votes to charge to the lead on 83.
McGowan and Sellars dominated the rest of the votes that day, with the former jumping to 75 to remain in the hunt, while Sellars moved to third overall on 56.
The next envelope contained votes from Sunday’s game against Junee and it was here McGowan hit back.
Collecting 15 votes to Grounds’ seven, McGowan regained the lead on 91 points, with Grounds just one behind.
The lead would change again in the next round (against Kangaroos) as Grounds produced another Herculean
performance to poll a further 15 votes.
That saw him back in front on 105 and with McGowan
trailing on 94, Grounds was closing in on his fourth Player of the Year.
Fittingly Grounds dominated the final round of votes to be read, picking up 13 of a possible 18 in the heartbreaking draw against Lavington to finish the year with 127.
McGowan was a deserving runner-up on 97, while Sellars finished third on 67.
In accepting his award, Grounds firstly thanked Boyd, a man he has great admiration and respect for.
“It means a lot to me to win an award named in honour of Les,” Grounds said.
“To my teammates, and to our coaches Mark (Elia) and Grant (Miller) I really enjoyed playing with you guys this year, it was one of my most enjoyable years at the club.
“I can honestly say Coota is the best club in Group Nine and has the best supporters.
“We might not have made it through to the semi finals, but I’m sure if we did there’d be a few very nervous sides out there.”
Grounds then gave a hint that his stellar career may not be over.
“Hopefully I’ll see you all again next year,” he said.
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