Since joining Young this year, the Kiwi playmaker’s starring role for the Cherrypickers has been a great vote catcher in the Weissel Medal count.      

With the release of the Weissel Medal standings after eight rounds, Talimalie is leading the way with 11 votes, only one vote ahead of Kangaroos flyer Tristan Dickson.

Significantly, Talimalie’s teammate Kyle Richens is third on the Weissel Medal list with nine votes, while Hayden Philp (Temora), Luke Berkrey (Gundagai), Simon Wilson (Junee) and Robbie Byatt (Tumbarumba) are next on eight.

For Young, the booming form of Talimalie and Richens is a major reason the team is riding high in fourth on the Group Nine table.

The Cherrypickers have won six of eight games to start the competition and are right in the mix to end a 26-year premiership drought.

Group Nine operations manager Peter Ryan, who announced the Weissel Medal votes on Tuesday, said it was little wonder Young was having such a fabulous year.

“When a team has two of top three players (in the Weissel Medal) they are invariably doing all right on the table,” Ryan said on Tuesday.

“They (Talimalie and Richens) are really giving Young a head start this season.”

Ryan said the opening eight rounds of the competition had shown there was a cross-section of players collecting medal votes.

“There are nine players with seven votes or more, but also another six players with six votes and five votes respectively,” Ryan said.

“It’s the tightest start in recent years.”

Ryan said Group Nine referees were to be commended for their expertise and diligence in handing down the votes.

Approaching the halfway mark of the season, Talimalie and Richens are bidding to become only the second Young player in 26 years to land the Weissel Medal.

Rangy Young five-eighth Ben McAlpine captured the medal in 2012, the first time the Cherrypickers had been successful since Mick Sell in 1991.

Coincidentally, Sell’s medal triumph came as Young surged to the Group Nine title for the last time.

With two Weissel Medal victories on end, Gundagai is in contention to secure an historic hat-trick.

The Tigers won last year with Brett Eccleston and in 2015 with James Luff, but have Luke Berkrey and James Smart near the top of the leaderboard in 2017.

Eccleston has subsequently retired, while Luff’s immediate playing future rests on the results of scans on his injured knee.

Sticking with recent tradition, the Weissel Medal presentation event will be held on race day at the Murrumbidgee Turf Club on October 21.

The function coincides with the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne.

Raymond Talimalie (Young)             11

Tristan Dickson (Kangaroos)                       10

Kyle Richens (Young)                                    9

Hayden Phlip (Temora)                    8

Luke Berkrey (Gundagai)                 8

Simon Wilson (Junee)                      8

Robbie Byatt (Tumbarumba)                      8

James Smart (Gundagai)                 7

Troy Barby (Kangaroos)                  7