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Jones claims Butcher in first year as captain

Monday, October 9, 2017 - 11:16 AM

Clint Jones has capped off a stellar 2017 by taking home the prestigious Butcher Medal on Friday evening.

Jones finished on 63 votes, beating fellow midfielder Corey Byrne (54 votes) and 2016 Butcher Medallist Michael Sinclair (42 votes).

In his first year as captain, Jones played all 20 games at an average of 33 disposals and was named in the 2017 WAFL Team of the Year.

The 33-year-old was also Perth's best performer at last month's Sandover Medal where he finished fifth.

The ex-Saint had 30 or more disposals 13 times in 2017, including three lots of 40+ and a 53 possession game against East Perth in round 6.

Byrne, who finished second to Jones, was also rewarded for an impressive 2017 with both the Runner Up and Doug Buckingham Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding young talent.

The 20-year-old burst onto the scene this year, being a consistent performer in all 20 games.

After winning the Butcher Medal as a 22-year-old in 2016, Sinclair did well to finish third this year having missed four games through injury.

Other league award winners included Clayton Giblett (Redlegs 1% Award), Cody Ninyette (Ron Tucker Memorial Trophy), and Lachlan Dennis (Vince Pendal Award).

In the Development, Callum Marshall took home the Greg Brehaut Medal as the fairest and best.

Marshall (127 votes) took it out in comfortable fashion, beating Shaun Smith (99 votes), Taran Etto (98 votes), Andries Mercer (97 votes) and Chris Leonard (94 votes).

With Smith taking home the Runner Up award, other Development Squad trophy winners were Etto (Redlegs 1% Award) and Brayden Sprigg Dos Santos (Coaches Award).

2017 Jack Ensor Medallist Luke English was also presented with his medal as the Colts fairest and best winner, with Runner Up Caelen Bennell and Spirit of the Colts winner Jack McCauley also getting recognition for their 2017 campaigns.

Dennis Marshall was awarded the Jack O'Dea Memorial Trophy as Best Club Person for his work counting stats on game days.

BUTCHER MEDAL 2017 FINAL LEADERBOARD
1st Clint Jones (63 votes)
2nd Corey Byrne (54 votes)
3rd Michael Sinclair (42 votes)
4th Cody Ninyette (38 votes)
5th Clayton Giblett and Aidan Tropiano (35 votes)
7th Mitchell Henderson (33 votes)
8th Brant Colledge (31 votes)
9th Christian Eyres (30 votes)
10th Devin McFarlane (25 votes)