With more than a dozen walk-up senior starters forced to the sidelines, coach Ben Davey had to throw the magnets around, gifting a host of youngsters the opportunity to step up into key roles.
It was a real sink-or-swim situation for his budding young stars and, in the end, was the making of eventual 2022 Morrison medallist Ben Rigoni.
The winner of the 2019 Pattison Medal (under-18 best-and-fairest), Rigoni has been no stranger to individual accolades.
But to go down in the record books as a Morrison medallist — Rigoni said it was an incredible shock.
“If you’d told me at the start of the year I’d be a Morrison medallist I would have probably laughed at you,” Rigoni said.
“So to be here now with the medal, it is a big surprise for me and a great feeling.
“Even coming here tonight I didn’t think I was much of a chance; I thought maybe top five, but that’s as far as it’d go, so to be the winner, it’s a huge shock.”
Establishing himself as a pivotal part of Seymour’s on-ball brigade, Rigoni grew in stature as the season progressed.
Sporting impressive averages of 24.4 disposals, 6.6 clearances and 5.7 tackles a game, the Lions midfield maestro was a bull around the contest and a driving force behind their incredible late-season charge.
Attributing his success to a sharp rise in midfield minutes, Rigoni said he embraced the challenge and responsibility of stepping up in the absence of his injured teammates.
“Last year I played the majority forward, but this year, with the injuries, I was given more of a chance in the midfield, which I prefer,” he said.
“It’s my natural position, I love getting in there and being around the footy, so when I got the opportunity I really wanted to make the most of it.
“As the year went on I got more comfortable and confident, I see myself as a confidence player, and by the end I backed myself to go head-to-head with the best midfielders in the competition.”
It was a thrilling count from beginning to end, Rigoni taking home the Morrison Medal by one vote, edging out Kyabram star Kaine Herbert to become the sixth winner to hail from Seymour.
He also follows in the footsteps of teammate Jack O’Sullivan, who claimed the honour in 2021, and said it was fantastic to bring the medal to Kings Park for another year.
“It’s good, Jack can’t have that one over me any more because he’s been telling me about it all year that he’s a Morrison medallist and I’m not, so it’s nice to level that one up,” Rigoni said.
“As a group we are all really close, we play for each other and it is a great place to play footy, so to bring this award back to the club, it is really nice.
“Being such a young team, there is so much improvement left in us and for me too there are so many areas I can grow. We are building something special, and it is great to be involved.”
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