McClounan named best and fairest in last-round thriller

For the second time in three years, Greta’s James McClounan has been crowned best and fairest in the senior Ovens and King football competition. The 2023 Clyde Baker Medallist returned to the summit at the crescendo of Sunday’s league vote count and presentation night. It was a thrilling count, but after the 20 rounds, McClounan had risen above the rest with 24 votes, narrowly beating the fast-finishing Hopper Paddy McNamara on 23, who polled in seven of the final 10 rounds. McClounan sat equal third with Milawa’s Aaron Law and Bright’s Sam Dalbosco with six votes after round five, trailing teammate Jack Kelly and Goorambat forward Duane Haebich on seven. The halfway point saw Haebich (13 votes), Kelly and Law (12 each) begin to pull ahead of the rest of the pack, with McClounan dropping off the leaderboard before a trio of three-vote games saw him shoot to the front of the pack after round 15. Law and McNamara had closed the gap at round 18, with five votes separating the top six. A three-votes game to McNamara saw him draw level with McClounan with 21 votes in first place, with Law (20) and Whorouly’s Michael Newton and Goorambat’s Jamie Dunne (28 votes each) within a game of each other – it would come down to round 20. The final round saw Law and McNamara pick up two votes each, but McClounan’s stunning performance against Benalla All Blacks granted him the three votes and the medal. McClounan said the season had been incredible for him and his team, and praised everyone who got votes on the night. “It’s been pretty good, just really fun, the team has been really good,” he said. “It’s the first time in that three year period where we’ve finished on top of the ladder, so it’s a really good result for us. “Paddy’s a really good player, he came very hard late in the count. “We played them about round 10, and he was the clear standout at Moyhu, so it’s a credit to him.” Greta’s deepening midfield and defensive stocks has allowed McClounan to spend more time forward of the footy this season, and increase his goal output year on year. When he first claimed the Baker Medal in 2023, he kicked just 36 goals, spending most of his time in the guts, but his tally rose to 57 goals in 2024, to 65 this season. “I probably get a little bit of freedom with Chris [Dube] and the coaching team,” McClounan said. “We’ve got guys like Jack Kelly and ‘Crawf’ [Cody Crawford] who are doing a lot of the defensive stuff for me, with Frazer Dent back there when he’s playing and ‘Cass’ [Daniel Cassidy]. “I’m the lucky one who gets to get forward a little bit and kick a few goals.” The medal capped off the perfect night for McClounan, who was named captain of the Team of the Year in the midfield, as well as winning the Player of the Year gong. The Blues will enter the finals in the second week looking to defend their flag, but McClounan said this season’s campaigners all had a shot at ultimate glory. “I think it’s going to be a hard finals series,” he said. “We’ve seen in the last couple of years, it’s been two or three sides competing, but this year, Bonnie Doon has come sixth and they knocked us off earlier in the year. “I reckon anyone’s a chance, it’s going to be a hard, good finals series.”

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