Joint Muir Medal winners

For those of you who were fortunate enough to be at the thrilling one point win over Ainslie in last weekend’s First Grade game, you may have witnessed one of the all-time best steals of the ball when Brett Fruend tackled Lucas O’Neill of Ainslie inside our attacking 50m and picked him clean of the ball in a one-on-one tackle before running in to kick a goal. Some in the crowd, and even Lucas himself, looked shocked and could hardly believe what had happened.

But whilst Brett was able to take the ball off Lucas, there was one thing the two players had to share after the two of them tied in the voting for the Muir Medal.

It is only the second time in the Muir Medal’s ten year history that there has been a tie, the first in 2008 with Danny Jaques and Andrew Lieschke, both of Queanbeyan, also shared the medal.

The medal, which recognises the significant contribution of Alan Muir to the Queanbeyan Tigers Club and his son Ian to the Ainslie Football Club, is awarded through a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 voting system, with votes offered by a chosen past Tigers player or official, a past Ainslie player or official and an independent official from AFL Canberra.

The esteem and respect in when the medal is held was on display when all players from the Tigers attended a presentation after the game in the Ainslie Social Club, where Ian Muir, current Ainslie Football Club President presented the medal in front of his sisters Susan and Allison and a contingent of both Queanbeyan and Ainslie supporters.

Mark Armstrong also addressed the crowd to show his respect for the Muir family and in particular our club legend Alan.  Up the Tigers, Eat ‘em Alive, as Alan would say!