Gerald Lynch
To nobody’s surprise, it was Dom Brew taking top honours on Thursday night to claim his second consecutive Bruce Montgomery Trophy, capping off a formidable season in the Victorian Football League.
The win didn’t come without a late scare, as he finished on 212 votes, just one above Norm Goss medalist Jack Henderson on 211.
The midfield pair were followed by Jesse Clark on 179 votes, Riley Bice on 176, and Louis Pinnuck on 172 to round out the top five.
While Brew has been no stranger to accolades this season, claiming the J.J Liston Medal and Coaches Most Valuable Player award, and a premiership to top it off, it was another honour on the night he was happiest with.
Brew, along with Jack Henderson and Louis Pinnuck, was inducted as a life member of the Werribee Football Club.
“It means the most to me, more than anything… As good as all the individual accolades are, to be a life member of this great football club is everything,” Brew said.
The hard inside midfielder had a career best season, leading Werribee for disposals with a career best average of 28.5 (17.4 contested), along with 3.4 marks, 9.9 clearances, 9.4 tackles and 5.6 inside-50s.
It was never going to be easy this season, with key departures of Tom Gribble, Matt Hansen, Shaun Mannagh, and Michael Sodomaco at the end of 2023 meaning Brew walked into centre bounces this year with a younger crop of midfielders with far less experience at the level.
He said he put it on himself to take extra responsibility and push the younger players to be their best, and while he admitted he wasn’t a lot of fun to be around in pre-season, not one of his teammates would complain now with premiership medals around their necks.
“This year was extremely hard for me, it’s well documented we had a fair bit of experience leave at the end of last year, but I look back on it now and I think those boys were a bit of a shelter for me,” he said.
“I felt a real heavy weight on my shoulders, I know I didn’t have to, but I did.
“I came in like a hurricane, I was very very hard to deal with at the start of preseason, I was like a bull at a gate and I probably wasn’t very well liked.
“But I think now we’re closer than ever… I’m so proud of the boys for the year we’ve had.”
Brew was also recognised as the trademark player of the year, an award voted on by the players each week.
The community development award was taken out by Daly Andrews, Jay Dahlhaus won the trainers award, the best first year player was Riley Bice, the property award was claimed by Aidan Johnson, and the coaches award was given to Cooper Whyte.
The best local player award was won by Michael Selsby, who finished third in the Western Football League Division One best and fairest for his efforts at Yarraville.
Hudson Garoni claimed Werribee’s goal kicking award, with a career-best 49 goals, while Jack Riding was awarded most improved, going from four games last year to 20 this season as well as 18 goals.
Best finals player was awarded to Jack Henderson, who took out the Norm Goss medal with two crucial goals in the grand final, and averaged 23.3 disposals and 7.3 tackles throughout the finals series.
