Carlton midfielder Nick Graham’s breakout 2015 was capped off on Thursday night when he came second at the Northern Blues’ best and fairest.
Despite not featuring for the Blues after Round 6, Graham’s superior form up until May was enough to see him bested by only Brad Walsh in the Laurie Hill Trophy.
Coming out of the blocks to start the campaign, Graham polled 56 votes from just five matches, in a voting system where 15 is the maximum a player can get for one game.
The midfielder’s tally included two perfect scores against Sandringham and Essendon, as well as a best-on-ground performance against North Ballarat.
Graham had been a consistent face at the Northern Blues in his opening two-and-a-half seasons on Carlton’s list, playing 23 games before a consistent run of matches at AFL level prior to injury ending his year.
Polling in every VFL game he played in this season, Graham said the Northern Blues has provided the perfect launching pad in the early stages of his AFL career.
“The Northern Blues have helped me with my development immensely and made my transition from the country that much easier, especially Garry O’Sullivan and Luke Webster,” Graham said.
“I love all of the boys down there at Northern: they’re making us really feel united at all levels of Carlton and I spent a fair bit of time there, particularly in my first two seasons.”
In terms of the vote count, Graham proved to be his own worst enemy in the Laurie Hill stakes, with his outstanding VFL form earning him an AFL Round 9 recall.
His dominance saw him lead until Round 13, before his midfield compatriot Walsh’s consistency ultimately resulted in the West Australian emerge the Blues’ best.
Graham - who couldn’t be there on the night - said he was “totally surprised and honoured” to place so highly in the award, while also paying credit to the eventual victor.
“Full credit to ‘Walshy’ - he’s had a hugely consistent year at VFL level and he’s really deserving of the award,” Graham said.
“I had my housemates Fraser Russell and Nick Holman there who let me know that I’d got off to a pretty good start: thankfully I just managed to hold on.
“It’s a massive surprise but I’m really thankful, if it wasn’t for the Northern Blues I wouldn’t be playing AFL as consistently as I have been.”
In a low-scoring vote count for the Blues, Graham also managed to top the club’s vote-getters at the J. J. Liston Trophy on Monday night (the VFL equivalent of the Brownlow).
