Powell now wants Cairns flag
SAINTS dominated Monday night's AFL Cairns Crathern Medal count, just as they have done on the field this season.
But winner Brenton Powell still struck a nervous figure accepting congratulations after beating the league’s best.
The player-coach remembers what happened last year and knows there is something about Manunda that make them a difficult proposition on the biggest stage of all.
It was the Hawks who turned around a massive loss to Saints in the first week of last season’s finals to convincingly take the flag.
"They are a team you need to be wary of – guys like Willie Alick that can just turn it on out of nowhere," Powell said.
"It’d be good to get some payback from last year, hopefully, fingers crossed."
The difference between this year and last, though, is just how dominant Saints have been.
Last season; they were beating teams by 60 points; this year, the margin has been closer to 160.
A lot of that has been because of Powell’s brilliance in the midfield and 100-goal efforts from centre-half forward Nick Gill and full forward Matt Walsh.
"I honestly thought Gilly (who finished a close second in the medal voting) would take it out,’’ Powell said.
"I think I was just more consistent (than outstanding) this season, but you never really know how the umpires are going to look at it."
Powell, 25, moved from Ballarat three seasons ago and was close to returning before being offered the co-coaching job alongside Nick Braybon this season.
"I was in the States on a bit of
a footy trip and got the call. I hadn’t really met Nick but I guess it’s worked out pretty well," he said.
"I’ll probably stay again next season now and I’m pretty sure the pair of us will be coaching again next season."
Powell won a premiership in his first season at Saints, beating favourites Port Douglas in the final.
"We were favourites last season and got knocked off, so hopefully we can stop that trend on Saturday."
The seniors grand final starts at 3pm on Saturday at Cazalys. The reserves, between Saints and Norths, kicks off from 12.30pm.
Medal count:
21 – Brenton Powell (Cairns Saints)
19 – Nicholas Gill (Cairns Saints)
17 – Ryan Matthews (Centrals)
15 – Kurt Bradshaw (Port Douglas), Adam Mueller (North Cairns)
12 – Tristan Keilar (South Cairns)
11 – William English (South Cairns), Matthew Walsh (Cairns Saints)
10 – Dylan Wearmouth (Port Douglas)
9 – Clinton Gribble (Manunda Hawks), Daniel Lewis (Cairns City Lions), Dwayne Bosen (North Cairns)
8 – Kane Richter (North Cairns)
7 – Thomas Clough (North Cairns), Skip Gribbon (Port Douglas)
6 – Rohan Couch (Cairns Saints), Matthew Cunningham (Centrals), Steven Davies (North Cairns), Alexander MacQueen (Cairns Saints), Tom Ward (Manunda Hawks), Ricky Allan (Cairns Saints), Brendan Tennick (North Cairns)
5 – Gregory Braico (Cairns City Lions), Sam Harkin (Cairns Saints), Chris Jorgensen (North Cairns), Caleb Howell (South Cairns), Daniel Smith (Manunda Hawks), Jobastin Priest (Cairns City Lions), Gavin Miller (Manunda Hawks)
4 – William Alick (Manunda Hawks), David Downes (South Cairns), Phil Dreise (Manunda Hawks), Ryan Etherington (South Cairns), Ryan Flint (Manunda Hawks), Dean Hislop (Cairns Saints), Mark Nuggin (Port Douglas), Bryce Willis (Port Douglas), Kurt Cadman (Port Douglas), Jarred Searle (Cairns Saints), Joshua Coombs (North Cairns), Joey Morrison (Cairns Saints)
3 – Michael D'Arcy (Manunda Hawks), Damien Dewis (South Cairns), Rex Liddy (North Cairns), Julius Smith (Port Douglas), Issac Rokeby (North Cairns), Daniel Lock (South Cairns), Jason Sauiluma (Manunda Hawks), Fred Pittorino (Manunda Hawks), Nicholas Braybon (Cairns Saints), Brandon Lovell (Cairns City Lions), Adam Boone (Port Douglas)
2 – M Brereton (South Cairns), Aaron Guligo (North Cairns), Ben Hallas (Cairns Saints), Trent Harman (South Cairns), Ben McCartney (Port Douglas), Rodney Tiparui (Cairns City Lions), Zach White (Cairns Saints), Michael Markham (South Cairns), Robbie Johnson (North Cairns), Adam Jones (South Cairns), Jesse Dixon (Cairns Saints), Cameron Duffy (Manunda Hawks)
1 – Jackson Brown (Port Douglas), Jevaat Ali (North Cairns), Andrew Coats (North Cairns), Adam Couch (Cairns Saints), Brent Craighead (Centrals TB), Glenn Gascoyne (South Cairns), Corey Hook (Cairns City Lions), S Jones (South Cairns), Daniel Liriges (Cairns Saints), Glen Martin (Manunda Hawks), Luke Powell (Manunda Hawks), Kris Rundle (Centrals TB), Luke Serong (Port Douglas), Paul Taverner (Cairns City Lions), Tim Churchin (Manunda Hawks), Josh Marriot (North Cairns)
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The league’s best: Cairns Saints player-coach Brenton Powell with his Crathern Medal after his narrow two-vote victory over teammate Nicholas Gill. Picture: BRETT PASCOE
