Flying ... Ryan Griffen won a second Dogs best-and-fairest. Source: Herald Sun
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has lauded the improvement of his players, but reminded them they have a long way to go if they are to challenge the established top eight.
On a night that midfielder Ryan Griffen clearly won the club's best and fairest, taking out his second Charles Sutton Medal, McCartney said the Bulldogs had satisfied four key criteria laid out at the start of the year.
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The team wanted to be able to run out games better, it wanted bigger and stronger players on the field, it wanted to be a closer unit and it wanted to be a better kicking team - although McCartney said it still had a long way to go in that area.
The Round 8 loss to Gold Coast was identified as a moment when the club's season hit "rock bottom'', before the team responded to win seven of its last 14 games.
But McCartney said he reminded his players and staff at a post-season meeting four days ago that a group of teams he called "The Cluster'' - North Melbourne, Essendon, Adelaide, Brisbane, West Coast, Gold Coast and the Bulldogs - were also aiming to climb in to the eight next season.
"We've come a long way this year and for that we're very proud, we like pleasing our supporters. It's not the only motivating force, but we like seeing happy people at our games,'' McCartney said.
"We're still clear about where we want to get to, but we're still confident of how we're going to do it. And as I said to the room on Sunday night, we've won seven games since that Round 8 tough night, but we finished 15th. There are 14 hurdles in front of us, 14 clubs to climb over.
"The eight's a tight fit, it's hard to get in, something's got to give. It doesn't mean that we're going to stop trying though, we're going to get there and we're not going to stop until we do.''
With 273 votes, Griffen beat home young-gun Tom Liberatore (242 votes), who 24 hours earlier was a controversial omission from the 40-man All-Australian squad.
Ruckman Will Minson rounded out the top three with 184 votes.
Griffen was superb this season, averaging 29 possessions per game.
The 27-year-old finished 14th in the Herald Sun's player of the year award and was ranked in the league's top 10 for total inside 50s (2nd), clearances (8th), disposals (10th) and contested possessions (10th).
Griffen first won the Western Bulldogs best and fairest in 2010. He was runner-up to captain Matthew Boyd last year.
McCartney publicly recognised Griffen's importance on several occasions this season.
"He's quite clearly our most dynamic player, he's nearly our most courageous player, he's nearly our toughest player and he's certainly our most consistent player,'' McCartney said after Griffen amassed 37 possessions in the Round 17 loss to Hawthorn.
"He's at an interesting stage in his career. His first four or five years he was able to play in a lot of wins because he was the young fella and the older boys did most of the work. The role is reversed and he's thriving on it.
"He's just emerging into a fantastic leader as well. He's emerged. 'Emerging' is probably selling it short. He's just leading brilliantly as well.''
McCartney also scoffed at mid-year speculation that Griffen could be used as part of a trade to prize this year's No.1 draft pick away from Greater Western Sydney.
Liberatore's second-placed finish is a clear reflection of his standing.
It also marks a distinct turnaround in the 21-year-old's career as it was little more than 12 months ago that he was suspended from the Whitten Oval for the final four matches of 2012 after a drug incident.
The son of Brownlow medallist Tony played every game this year, topped the league for total clearances, was second for total contested possessions and fourth for total tackles.
Defender Dale Morris won the Scott West most courageous award after his first season back from a horrific leg injury, while Jack Macrae won the Chris Grant best first-year player award.
CHARLES SUTTON MEDAL
1. Ryan Griffen 273 votes
2. Tom Liberatore 242
3. Will Minson 184
4. Robert Murphy 176
5. Dale Morris 166
6. Luke Dahlhaus 151
7. Adam Cooney 144
8. Daniel Giansiracusa 134
9. Jordan Roughead 88
10. Mitch Wallis 82
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