HAWTHORN star Jordan Lewis has tonight been crowned the Club’s best and fairest player of season 2014.
The triple premiership player was named the Peter Crimmins Medallist at Crown Palladium after an outstanding season where he was named All Australian for the first time in his career.
A Club vice-captain, Lewis labeled his season as probably the best of his career mid-season and it was made official on Saturday night when he took home the medal in a premiership year.
Lewis finished the year strongly, polling in every game after Round 12 and polled double figure votes in Rounds 10, 14, 15, 20, 21 to finish with 185 votes ahead of Grant Birchall (163) and Jarryd Roughead (161).
When the Hawks had a mounting injury list that included experienced players Sam Mitchell, Brian Lake, Cyril Rioli and Josh Gibson, Lewis stepped up to fill the void.
Most notably in the absence of Mitchell, Lewis became Hawthorn’s number one midfielder by averaging more disposals (27.8), clearances (5.7) and centre clearances (2.4) for the year.
He was also ranked second for inside 50s and fourth for tackles and contributed 17 goals.
Playing 24 of a possible 25 games, Lewis made a slow start to the year but hit his straps from Round 10 onwards.
His performance against Port Adelaide in that round was one of his best for the season, when he gathered 38 disposals and kicked two goals in the narrow loss.
From there, Lewis transformed himself into one of the game’s elite midfielders, averaging 29.3 disposals from then on.
Lewis also contributed well during the Qualifying and Preliminary Finals with 20 and 22 disposals respectively but brought home the Medal thanks to his 37 disposal game in the Grand Final.
The Hawks star finished ahead of Grant Birchall and Jarryd Roughead who were also recognised for their outstanding years by finishing in second and third place.
In other awards on the night, Mitchell took home the Best Player in Finals award, Bradley Hill the Most Promising award, Angus Litherland Best First Year Player, Shaun Burgoyne the Most Consistent and Matt Spangher Best Clubman.
Veteran midfielder Brad Sewell also announced his retirement after a decorated career that included 200 games, two premierships and a Peter Crimmins Medal.
Peter Crimmins Medal Top 10
1. Jordan Lewis – 185
2. Grant Birchall – 163
3. Jarryd Roughead – 161
4. Luke Hodge – 159
5. Isaac Smith – 148
6. Shaun Burgoyne – 146
7. Luke Breust – 145
8. Jack Gunston – 137
9. Paul Puopolo – 120
10. Josh Gibson – 114
Peter Crimmins Medal voting procedure:
Votes for the 2014 Peter Crimmins Medal were awarded after each home-and-away and finals game by the Hawthorn Football Club Match Committee, consisting of Senior Coach Alastair Clarkson and Assistant Coaches Luke Beveridge, Brendon Bolton, Cameron Bruce and Brett Ratten. A maximum 16 votes can be accumulated by a player each game.
