Old Xaverians’ brilliant performance in the truncated 2021 Premier season has been recognised by the VAFA, which has awarded the team the minor premiership.

The Reserves, who also finished in top position, have been accorded the same honour.

However, these honours are mere consolation prizes for a season that if completed, might have produced the richest haul of silverware in the club’s history.

Eight Old Xaverian teams had good chances of winning premierships in their respective sections had finals proceeded with ladder positions as they stood.

The U19 Premier team was in 2nd spot at 9-2 and seemed destined to go deep. The U19 Division 1 Team, despite being promoted mid-season, sat in fourth spot at 6-4, while the third U19 team was 4th at 7-3.

All three Thirds teams were in second position, the U23s at 8-3, and the Menages and Crocs at 9-2. They would have been very tough to toss during the finals.

SENIORS

The performance of the senior team under James Byrne was simply outstanding.

Our own Power Rankings, which weighted performance by teams against only those it played, displayed a real dominance.

TEAM STATS

In addition, Premier Statistics kept the numbers in 28 categories in Premier section.

As a team, Old Xaverians ranked first in 11 of these stats, second in five, and third in one. Interestingly, the Red ‘n’ Blacks ranked ninth in Frees For.

‍

PLAYERS STATS

Individually, Xavs players featured prominently in the top ten players in each category, and topping thirteen of them.

These were:

Premier Data Points:  2. Jason Holmes 1514 / 3. Marcus Stavrou 1405 

Disposals: 1. Daniel Robinson 310 / 2.Marcus Stavrou 301 

Kicks: 3. Daniel Robinson 156  / 4. Will Hams 154  / 7. Marcus Stavrou 148 

Handballs: 1. Daniel Robinson 154 / 2.Marcus Stavrou 153 / 10. Jack Noone 84

Contested Disposals: 1. Marcus Stavrou 161  / 2. Daniel Robinson 148 

Marks: 3. Julian Soccio 69 / 5. Jack Noone 61 / 6. Daniel Robinson 60 / 8. Jordan Kelly 59 / 10. Ryan Schoenmakers 56

Contested Marks: 4. Ryan Schoenmakers 18 / 6. Grant Valles 17

Marks Inside 50: 3. Julian Soccio 22/ 8. Michael Batten 19

Intercept Marks 2. Jordan Kelly 38 /9. Ryan Schoenmakers 22

Clearances: 1. Marcus Stavrou 76 / 3.Daniel Robinson 67 

Hit Outs: 1. Jason Holmes 619 

Hard Ball Gets: 1. Marcus Stavrou 76/ 6. Daniel Robinson 50 

Loose Ball Gets: 1. Daniel Robinson 71/ 2. Marcus Stavrou 70 / 6. Hayden Troiani 54 / 7. Michael Batten 53 / 10.Hamish Cullity 52

Inside 50s: 1. Daniel Robinson 56 / 3.Hayden Troiani 47 / 5. Marcus Stavrou 46

Score Assists: 1. Michael Batten 20/ 3. Marcus Stavrou 11 / 8. Julian Soccio 9 / 8. Hayden Troiani 9

Score Involvements: 1. Jason Holmes 50 / 1. Michael Batten 50 / 4. Marcus Stavrou 48 / 9. Julian Soccio 39 / 10.Dennis Symeopoulos 38

Spoils: 8. Benedict Banting 35 

Total Tackles: 1. Hayden Troiani 81/ 2. Marcus Stavrou 79

Effective Tackles: 1. Marcus Stavrou 62 / 3. Hayden Troiani 56 

Forward 50 Tackles: 5. Jack Hewitt 19 / 10. Dennis Symeopoulos 17

Midfield Tackles: 1. Hayden Troiani 63 / 2. Marcus Stavrou 60 

Frees For: 2. William Hams 25

Frees Against: 6. Marcus Stavrou 18

WOODROW MEDAL

In terms of the Woodrow votes, Xavs’ players polled 54 of a possible 66 votes, picking up all 6 votes in six of the eleven games played. Rohan Bewick, Will Hams, Mick Batten, Dan Robinson and Jack Hewitt all picked up a BOG.

Marcus Stavrou, of course, won the prized award, the first Xaverian to do so in 24 years, with four BOGs and a 2.

The big question remaining is to whether the skipper will also win the club’s Best and Fairest. Did the coaches see things the same way as the umpires and statisticians?

You’ll find out this and plenty more when the names of all winners of club and team trophies are revealed live on ZOOM Thursday 7 October at 7:00pm. Don't miss the club’s (online) Night of Nights.

‍