Talented Mossgiel Park midfielder Bert McGaw, front, led an impressive season for the club, with team-mates, middle from left, Lachlan Signal, Edward Nguyen and Toby McLean, and back, Jack Cumming and Matthew Homfray also enjoying strong performances.By Marc McGowan
MOSSGIEL Park footballer and Endeavour Hills resident Bert McGaw will reflect on 2007 for the rest of his life after a glittering year of achievements.
It all started when the influential 171-centimetre midfielder won the Dandenong District Junior Football League (DDJFL) under 15 Division Two best and fairest in a landslide this month.
McGaw, 15, polled 31 votes to win by seven from Officer’s Mark Vandenacker, with Hampton Park’s Shaun Dekkers a further five back in third place.
To top it off, right-footed teenager McGaw was awarded the Lindsay Patching Medal for polling the most votes in all age groups in the DDJFL.
McGaw’s home and away form went to a new level in this month’s finals as he racked up best-on-ground performances in Mossgiel Park’s six-point semi-final defeat against Officer and 28-point preliminary final victory over Hampton Park.
The semi-final loss was just the club’s second of the season and Mossgiel Park received an opportunity to enact revenge on Officer in the grand final on Sunday.
McGaw, who captained his side after first playing the sport as a nine-year-old, had no intention of going down this time and produced another best-on-ground display as his side thumped Officer by 44 points.
“The win over Hampton Park gave the team good momentum and it was pretty good (to win the grand final),” he said.
More exciting news followed on the weekend, with Rowville Football Club, which has a relationship with Mossgiel Park, offering McGaw a three-year scholarship.
It will cover his football fees and also pay for some of his school fees, with the expectation that he will join Rowville in the last year of the deal.
The Dandenong Stingrays are another admirer of McGaw’s talent and the youngster has been a part of their development program since last year.
“I do a lot of running and more skill work with them than I do at Mossgiel Park,” he said.
“It’s good just to get to know different people from different clubs and leagues as well.”
As with any aspiring footballer, McGaw has his sights on the AFL and is doing all he can to make it a reality.
Collingwood player and former Mossgiel Park on-baller Daniel Nicholls followed an eerily similar path to the AFL as McGaw.
Nicholls is the only other player in the club’s history to be best on ground in three straight finals matches and was also offered a three-year scholarship to Rowville.
“I would do anything to get drafted. It would be the best thing that has ever happened to me,” McGaw said.
He will first have to negotiate his way past the final cut at the Stingrays, where he is one of 100 prospects on the list.
McGaw will continue to train with Dandenong and play in practice matches next month, with cuts to continually take place over the next 12 months.
The success of McGaw was part of a great year at Mossgiel Park, with Edward Nguyen, in his first year of football, also winning the DDJFL best and fairest in the under 11 Red Division.
Jack Cummings and Toby McLean finished runners-up in the under 13 and under 11 age groups respectively.
Cummings, who is also a nationally rated cyclist, only lost his count by one vote after missing three games because of racing commitments.
Picture: Meagan Rogers.
