FORMER Collingwood rookie Jye Bolton hopes his Sandover Medal triumph will open the door back to an AFL club.
The Victorian – who was lured from VFL club Werribee to play with Claremont in the WAFL this year – spent the 2011 season on the Magpies' list after being recruited with pick 73 in the previous year's rookie draft.
He played one pre-season game before being delisted at the end of the season.
Bolton polled 49 votes in the Sandover count from his 20 games to beat Fremantle-listed Peel midfielder Matt De Boer, who received 42 votes from just 12 matches.
Ex-St Kilda tagger Clint Jones rounded out the top three, picking up 39 votes after returning to the WAFL for Perth this season.
Bolton also won the Simpson Medal as the state team's best player this year and the 24-year-old hoped his form would attract the interest of AFL clubs.
"I'd be happy to go anywhere," Bolton said on Tuesday.
"Throughout the year I had some contact with some different clubs and that sort of stuff. But you've just got to wait until draft day to see if they really want you."
Four of the previous 10 Sandover medallists have gone on to play in the AFL, including Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis (2006), All Australian Hayden Ballantyne (2008), Andrew Krakouer (2010) and Kane Mitchell (2012).
Bolton had a stunning season for Claremont. He averaged 29 disposals across 20 games. He won the Simpson medal as best afield in WA's state game against Tasmania, where he gathered 46 disposals and kicked two goals in a 134-point win in June.
He also caught the eye of Fremantle coach Ross Lyon who made special mention of his performance on NAB AFL Rising Star nominee Connor Blakely in Claremont's round 19 win over Fremantle's WAFL-affiliate club Peel Thunder.
Bolton said he is far better placed to handle AFL football now than he was during his time at Collingwood in 2011.
"When I was 18 I think it might have been a little bit too early for me," Bolton said.
"But I think I've learned a lot now and developed my game to a point where I can contribute to a list at a high level. That's just the goal. I just want to play my role for whatever the coach says to the best of my ability and hopefully that can get me to where I want to be."
Bolton said he has added roughly 10kg of size since his time in the AFL system and feels he is a far better contested player as a result, complementing his natural running capacity.
Bolton's season is even more impressive considering he missed most of last season due to a broken foot. He did not run between breaking the foot in May of 2015 and Christmas.
