In front of 2000 guests, Jeremy Cameron and Cameron Guthrie were announced as joint winners of the 2022 ‘Carji’ Greeves Medal, with both players ending up on equal votes to take out the Club’s top honour.
It’s only the second time in Geelong history, the award has been shared, the last time also coming in a Premiership year when Gary Ablett Jnr and Corey Enright tied in 2009.
Cameron and Guthrie both polled 113 votes to take out ‘Carji’, with Mark Blicavs finishing as runner up (104) and Tom Hawkins third (98). Tyson Stengle (97) and Tom Atkins (94) rounded out the top five.
In just his second season at Geelong, Jeremy Cameron enjoyed his finest year. Cameron played 24 games, kicked a total of 65 goals and earnt his third All-Australian blazer. Cameron finished equal eighth at the 2022 Brownlow Medal count, polling 19 votes, including five best-on-ground performances.
In another exceptional and consistent season, Guthrie played all 25 Cats games, averaging 24 disposals. The 230-game midfielder earns the prestigious medal for the second time in his career, on the back of polling 13 votes and finishing equal 20th at the 2022 Brownlow Medal count.
Mark Blicavs capped off a superb season finishing runner up. In his 10th season at the Cats, he earned his first All Australian honours having played 24 games, with his versatility seeing him play multiple roles for the team.
Tom Hawkins finished third in the medal count after a career-best 67 goals from 25 appearances. Hawkins led Geelong’s goal kicking for the 11th consecutive season and was named the All Australian captain for the first time, receiving the honour with his fifth blazer.
In other awards presented during the night, Tom Atkins claimed the Tom Harley Best Clubman Award. The Tom Harley award goes to the player that demonstrated outstanding care for his teammates, and who champions the club and team values. Atkins has been a key cog in Geelong’s midfield in 2022, his tenacity and pressure often setting the tone for his teammates to follow.
Third year Cat, Sam De Koning was named as Best Young Player. Having played just one game in his first two seasons, De Koning cemented his spot in the Cats backline this season, shutting down some of the game’s most powerful forwards. Finishing second in this year’s NAB Rising Star award, the 24 gamer is now a Premiership player.
Joel Selwood was named the Carter Family Community Champion award for his outstanding commitment to the community. In a season with countless milestones and breaking league records, Selwood led by example on and off the field by reaching the 1000-hour milestone for Cats Community commitments. Selwood is a two-time winner of the Geelong Cats’ Community Champion Award (2011, 2020), and this year became the recipient of the 2022 Jim Stynes Award for his years of service to the community.
The Little Vic award was also presented to Ben Lloyd, the VFL team’s best first year player in memory of long serving Geelong volunteer Vic Fuller.
Tonight’s function also saw the Cats officially farewell its departing players, with retirees Joel Selwood, Shaun Higgins and Luke Dahlhaus making speeches.
‘Carji’ Greeves Medal Top 10
1st - Jeremy Cameron and Cameron Guthrie - 113 votes
Runner Up - Mark Blicavs - 104 votes
3rd - Tom Hawkins - 98 votes
4th - Tyson Stengle - 97 votes
5th - Tom Atkins - 94 votes
6th - Zach Tuohy - 93 votes
7th - Brad Close - 79 votes
8th - Sam De Koning - 77 votes
9th - Tom Stewart - 76 votes
NOTE: After each game, the Senior and assistant coaches review and rate each players performance out of 10.Votes are polled in games where a players performance has been deemed of a high quality by the coaching group. And unlike previous seasons, all matches are counted towards their final total.
