John McKenzie wins Davidson Medal

John McKenzie has capped off a stellar 2011 Under 18 season by taking out the prestigious Davidson Medal as the Most Valuable Player in the Tasmania Under 18 team for 2011.

This completes an outstanding year for John that has seen him Captain Tasmania’s National Championship winning team, win selection in the Under 18 All-Australian team and be named as the Hunter-Harrison Medal winner for the Most Valuable Player in Division 2 of the NAB AFL Under 18 National Championships.

McKenzie, from South Launceston Football Club, won on 81 votes from Runner-up Brody Mihocek on 60 votes, with Dylan Riley and Julian Dobosz equal third on 41 votes.

The Davidson Medal is named to honour the contribution of Garry Davidson who was a passionate driver of young talented Tasmanian footballers and Manager of the inaugural Tassie Mariners team when it first entered the TAC Cup in 1995.

Past winners include Josh Green, Ryan Harwood, Aaron Joseph and Grant Birchall.

The Don Rule Medal for the Under 16 Most Valuable Player was won by Thor Boscott from the Lauderdale Football Club.

AFL STATE ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS
UNDER 18
Davidson Medal - John McKenzie
Davidson Medal Runner-up - Brody Mihocek
Coach’s Award - Dylan Riley
Academy Award (All-round professionalism) - Benjamin Brown
Bill Atwell Award (Under 17 MVP) - Jesse Lonergan
UNDER 16
Don Rule Medal - Thor Boscott
Coach’s Award - Ryan Wiggins
Academy Award (All-round professionalism) - Alex Payne