{"id":47599,"date":"2025-08-06T10:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T10:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47599\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T10:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T10:31:10","slug":"duursma-returns-to-extend-rmc-medal-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47599\/","title":{"rendered":"Duursma returns to extend RMC Medal lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROOKIE Me Central Medal frontrunner Willem Duursma<\/a> returned to Coates Talent League action with a best afield performance in Round 17. He now leads a field of 13 players who are still mathematically in with a chance of taking home the medal, which was won by Zane Duursma just two years ago. <\/p>\n

>> SCROLL for the Round 17 votes & leaderboard<\/p>\n

The fourth Duursma sibling slotted back into Gippsland Power\u2019s midfield rotation fresh off MVP and All-Australian honours for Vic Country, and his VFL debut with Casey Demons. The dynamic utility posted 26 disposals, 10 tackles, and two goals to earn the three votes in his side\u2019s 33-point win over Tasmania.<\/p>\n

Those votes account for the exact margin Duursma holds to Northern Knights captain Sebastian Murphy<\/a> and Bendigo Pioneers bottom-ager Cody Walker<\/a> in equal-second. Both players rose up the leaderboard after collecting votes over the weekend; Murphy with three, and Walker with one in a tight loss.<\/p>\n

Another riser among the top 10 was Geelong Falcons over-ager Kobe George<\/a>, who was best afield with 30 disposals and nine marks as his side snuck past Walker\u2019s Pioneers. He now sits alongside Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Callum Smith<\/a> in equal-fourth, with the latter having a bye in Round 17.<\/p>\n

An additional four players kept their medal hopes alive to join a total of six prospects in equal-eighth. Among them were recent Vic Metro teammates Xavier Taylor<\/a> and Adam Sweid<\/a>, who duked it out on opposite sides Eastern beat Calder. Taylor got the upper hand with three votes and the win.<\/p>\n

Also among that group is the competition\u2019s leading goalkicker, Charlie McKinnon<\/a>. The GWV Rebels spearhead booted another five majors to take his season tally to 42 in 11 games. His efforts were good enough to earn two votes, with his final two goals seeing GWV sneak home against Western.<\/p>\n

>> CTL Round 17: Snapshot<\/a> | Player of the Week<\/a> | Team of the Week<\/a> | Scouting Notes<\/a><\/p>\n

ROUND 17 VOTES<\/p>\n

Calder Cannons 11.7 (73) def. by Eastern Ranges 10.16 (76)
By: Michael Alvaro<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Xavier Taylor (Eastern Ranges)
2 \u2013 Adam Sweid (Calder Cannons)
1 \u2013 Bailey Lloyd (Eastern Ranges)<\/p>\n

Murray Bushrangers 6.9 (45) def. by Northern Knights 10.6 (66)
By: Michael Alvaro<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Sebastian Murphy (Northern Knights)
2 \u2013 Blake Newton (Murray Bushrangers)
1 \u2013 Zac Harding (Murray Bushrangers)<\/p>\n

Western Jets 9.13 (67) def. by GWV Rebels 9.15 (69)
By: Adrian Dixon<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Jake Miller (Western Jets)
2 \u2013 Charlie McKinnon (GWV Rebels)
1 \u2013 Thomas Burton (Western Jets)<\/p>\n

Geelong Falcons 8.12 (60) def. Bendigo Pioneers 8.10 (58)
By: Michael Alvaro<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Kobe George (Geelong Falcons)
2 \u2013 Connor Evans (Bendigo Pioneers)
1 \u2013 Cody Walker (Bendigo Pioneers)<\/p>\n

Tasmania Devils 8.9 (57) def. by Gippsland Power 13.12 (90)
By: Declan Reeve<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Willem Duursma (Gippsland Power)
2 \u2013 Jack Hilton (Gippsland Power)
1 \u2013 Xavier Ladbrook (Gippsland Power)<\/p>\n

LEADERBOARD<\/p>\n

1. Willem Duursma (Gippsland Power) \u2013 15 votes [3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3]
\u2014
Eq. 2. Sebastian Murphy (Northern Knights) \u2013 12 votes [3, 3, 2, 1, 3]
Eq. 2. Cody Walker (Bendigo Pioneers) \u2013 12 votes [3, 3, 2, 3, 1]
\u2014
Eq. 4. Kobe George (Geelong Falcons) \u2013 11 votes [3, 3, 2, 3]
Eq. 4. Callum Smith (Dandenong Stingrays) \u2013 11 votes [3, 2, 3, 3]
\u2014
Eq. 6. Talor Byrne (GWV Rebels) \u2013 10 votes [2, 3, 2, 3]
Eq. 6. Tom Evans (Bendigo Pioneers) \u2013 10 votes [3, 3, 2, 2]
\u2014
Eq. 8. Brodie Atkins (Gippsland Power) \u2013 9 votes [2, 2, 2, 3]
Eq. 8. Thomas Burton (Western Jets) \u2013 9 votes [1, 2, 2, 3, 1]
Eq. 8. Charlie McKinnon (GWV Rebels) \u2013 9 votes [3, 3, 1, 2]
Eq. 8. Adam Sweid (Calder Cannons) \u2013 9 votes [2, 2, 2, 1, 2]
Eq. 8. Xavier Taylor (Eastern Ranges) \u2013 9 votes [2, 2, 2, 3]
Eq. 8. Rory Wright (Sandringham Dragons) \u2013 9 votes [2, 1, 2, 2, 2]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROOKIE Me Central Medal frontrunner Willem Duursma returned to Coates Talent League action with a best afield performance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[3484,638,64,63,55,639,33554,40669,1653,40670,40671,85,14479,15691],"class_list":["post-47599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-adam-sweid","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-callum-smith","tag-charlie-mckinnon","tag-cody-walker","tag-kobe-george","tag-sebastian-murphy","tag-sports","tag-willem-duursma","tag-xavier-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}