Baldock Medal finally goes to a fellow Demon...
Tears of joy welled for Darrel Baldock as he presented the medal named in his honour to fellow Demon Gavin Woodcock.
Woodcock too, was emotional, far more than even he had expected as Latrobe's first-ever NTFL best and fairest winner.
Gavin Woodcock needed a beer to calm his nerves when the final round of the Baldock Medal votes were being read.
The last best and fairest he won was when he was about nine years old, but this time he was on the edge of the NTFL's ultimate individual honour.
The Latrobe midfielder was one vote behind Ulverstone's Tim Mee going into the final round of the count, after Mee had been an early leader.
He knew he'd played "alright" in the last match and NTFL president Andrew Richardson read out his two votes for the game against Wynyard and he was one vote up on Mee.
Richardson paused dramatically before reading the Ulverstone votes, and when Justin Hayes received the best on field, there was a standing ovation for Woodcock.
"I guess it was like the season - it was all that close." Woodcock said.
He was clearly overwhelmed when he received the Baldock Medal from Darrel Baldock himself, and "the Doc" was definitely moved to be finally annointing a Demon, as no Latrobe player had won the medal since the NTFL's inception in 1987.
"It's all a bit surreal, really," he said of the medal, the media pack and the presence of the Doc himself, and his personal congratulations and hearty hug.
"I'd like a premiership. Things like this (he lifts the medal reverently) come along the way, but what it's really about is a premiership."
"We haven't won one since Doc's time, maybe next year. It would be good to pay back all the people who work so hard around the club," he said.
He admitted the team needed another ruckman, and said he hoped his friend Luke Bloomfield from Deloraine would join the Dees next season.
The 27-year-old said he would continue at Latrobe next season, and hoped his coach Matthew Langmaid would still be standing in the goal square, despite Langmaid saying he was uindecided about playing on.
Woodcock put his good season form down to remaining injury free this season, especially with the help of trainer Leigh Courtney, who was new to the club this year and a definite advantage.
