AS a playing co-coach for the Cootamundra Bulldogs this season, Grant Boyd certainly stepped up to the plate and cemented himself as one of the club’s finest members.
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He was rewarded on Friday night at the annual presentation evening with the most prestigious of all the club’s trophies - the Les Boyd Medal.
Named in honour of his father and all Les did on the football field and still does for the Bulldogs, the Les Boyd Medal, formerly the Player of the Year, is decided on through a weekly voting system by Bulldogs supporters in the crowd.
Five regular supporters vote using a three, two, one system for their best player of the day giving any single player a maximum of 15 points per round.
It was a neck and neck contest throughout the year between Luke Berkrey and Boyd to take top spot in the Les Boyd Medal count and in the end the difference probably came down to a game count.
Berkrey missed a few games through injury while Boyd played all 16 rounds.
The final points tally was 194 to Boyd and 178 to Berkrey out of a possible maximum of 240 points this season.
Another popular, long-term member of the club Grant Miller came third in the count with 94 points. Like Berkrey, he missed a few games throughout the season, this time due to family reasons.
Boyd was typically humble in accepting the award saying had Berkrey not been injured it would definitely have been him on stage collecting the award.
He paid tribute to the quality players who helped him to produce some of his best football this year including Grant Miller, Jordyn Ballard and Matt Forsyth. While Miller has been around the club as long as Boyd (both around the 10 year mark) Ballard and Forsyth are still in their early 20s, however are stepping up as senior members of the side.
The Bulldogs started the 2014 season in style with strong wins against Young and South City before being handed back to back defeats by Gundagai and Albury.
From there things continued to go awry as injury struck the first grade squad. By about round 11, there were nine players who had started on the field in first grade in round one who were out injured.
It was during this time the likes of Boyd really stepped up. He led from the front, always putting his body on the line and showing moments of brilliance which helped turns games in the Bulldogs favour.
Had the first grade squad not been so rocked by injury the tale of 2014 for the Bulldogs may have been a different one, but despite being down on troops those left fit and healthy on the field did a great job creating a season all members of the club can be proud of.
