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Andrew Carrazzo has taken out the 2007 John Nicholls Medal in a very close count from Heath Scotland in front of over 800 guests in the Palladium at Crown. Carrazzo polled 218 votes to win the award ahead of Heath Scotland (212), and Jarrad Waite (144).
Winning the John Nicholls Medal is an outstanding achievement for the 23-year-old Andrew Carrazzo who had a very tough task making it to the AFL. Andrew spent two years on the Geelong Rookie List, winning the Best & Fairest Award for the Geelong VFL side and being named in the VFL Team of the Year in 2003. He was selected as a Rookie List player for Carlton in 2004 and was elevated to the Carlton senior list late in the season finally making his AFL debut against Melbourne in round 21, 2004.
After playing rounds 21 and 22 in 2004, Carrazzo played 20 games in 2005 and 19 games in 2006 and this year he played all 22 games and was Carlton’s second highest possession winner for the season with 569 disposals for the year. Originally from East Burwood via the Oakleigh Under 18s, he played his 50th AFL game in round nine this year and he was a member of Carlton’s 2005 and 2007 pre-season premiership teams.
Runner up Heath Scotland played all 22 games for the season and was the leading possession winner for Carlton with 575 disposals and he continues his consistent form of 2006 when he was third in the John Nicholls Medal behind Lance Whitnall.
Jarrad Waite who finished third in the voting also played 22 games and he had the honour of captaining Carlton in the round 13 match against Fremantle when he led by example kicking five goals.
John Nicholls, Carlton Legend and winner of the Best & Fairest Award a record five times, presented the medal named in his honour to Andrew Carrazzo following the counting of votes.
Voting for the John Nicholls medal is on a 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 /1 system with five members of the Carlton Match Committee independently submitting their votes after each round.
Other Award winners announced prior to the counting of votes in the John Nicholls Medal were:
Best First Year Player – Bryce Gibbs
Must be a first year AFL player and Bryce, who is 18 years of age, played all 22 games in his first season after being Carlton’s first selection, number one overall, in the 2006 draft last year.
Best Clubman – Jordan Bannister
This Award was presented by Matthew Lappin.
Past Players Encouragement Award – Paul Bower
Paul has played 12 senior matches, including 10 in 2007. He was Carlton’s 2nd round selection, number 20 overall, in the 2005 NAB AFL National Draft.
This Award was presented by Dennis Munari, President of the Past Players.
Women of Carlton – Player Ambassador of the Year Award – Brad Fisher
The Women of Carlton introduced this Award in 2004 to reward the players for their on field achievements as well as their work within the community and the manner in which they represent the Club on and off the field.
The Top Ten in the 2007 John Nicholls Medal:
1st Andrew Carrazzo 218
2nd Heath Scotland 212
3rd Jarrad Waite 144
4th Ryan Houlihan 142
5th Kade Simpson 126
6th Brendan Fevola 94
7th Brad Fisher 90
8th Adam Bentick 86
9th Bryce Gibbs 74
10th Andrew Walker 58
The top ten in 2006: (only four voting cards per game)
1st Lance Whitnall 174
2nd Brendan Fevola 164
3rd Heath Scotland 146
4th Kade Simpson 105
5th Nick Stevens 93
6th Andrew Walker 91
7th Bret Thornton 90
8th Matthew Lappin 84
9th Marc Murphy 82
10th Anthony Koutoufides 57
