With the Doig Medal Presentation Dinner rapidly approaching, fremantlefc.com.au looks at which players are likely to fare well in Fremantle’s night of nights at the Crown Ballroom on Saturday 7 October.

If it weren’t for a knee injury sustained against Hawthorn in round 18, Michael Walters would be going into the 2017 Doig Medal as the hot favourite.

Juggling time between the forward line and the midfield, Walters was in career-best form racking up contested possession numbers that rivalled the likes of Nat Fyfe and Lachie Neale, while continuing to impact the scoreboard.

In round 15 against St Kilda, Walters produced one of the best individual performances of the year with 32 disposals and six goals, while he was also crucial in Freo’s thrilling win over Richmond in round eight with 38 disposals.

Walters polled the third most Brownlow votes for Freo with 10 votes, behind Fyfe’s 15 votes and Neale’s 14.

While Walters’ contribution from his 17 games was as good as any Freo player in 2017, it will be a hard task to produce the same number of votes against the likes of Fyfe, Neale and David Mundy (21 games) and Bradley Hill, Joel Hamling and Michael Johnson (22 games).

Best Doig Medal performances
2015: Fifth
2016: Third

Key Stats (total / average per game)
Games: 17
Disposals: 328 / 19.3
Contested possessions: 144 / 8.5
Tackles: 45 / 2.6
Marks: 74 / 4.4
Clearances: 47 / 2.8
Inside 50s: 67 / 3.9
Goals: 22 / 1.3
AFL Fantasy points: 1355 / 79.7

Best performances
Disposals – 38 vs Richmond, round 8
Contested possessions: 18 v St Kilda, round 15
Marks – 10 vs Brisbane Lions, round 12
Tackles – 5 vs North Melbourne, round 16
Inside 50s – 7 vs Brisbane, round 12 and North Melbourne, round 16
Clearances – 6 vs Essendon, round 7 and Richmond, round 8
Goals – 6 vs St Kilda, round 15
AFL Fantasy points – 145 vs St Kilda, round 15

Poll

Photos


Round 3 v Western Bulldogs


Round 4 v Melbourne


Round 7 v Essendon


Round 8 v Richmond


Round 9 v Carlton


Round 12 v Brisbane


Round 15 v St Kilda


Round 16 v North Melbourne


Round 17 v West Coast

Tickets & stream
Limited tickets to the Doig Medal Presentation Dinner are still available. For more information, please contact the Events Team on (08) 9433 7146.
The Doig Medal will be streamed live from 7pm on fremantlefc.com.au