Greenvale head-hunted Scott Lucas, Maribyrnong Park reached into the coffers to lure Luke Livingston and Marc Bullen, Keilor recruited Rodney Van Riet.
Yet it’s the former Seymour junior who took home the Dick Reynolds medal as Essendon District Football League’s best and fairest player in A-grade on Monday night.
Van Riet laughed at the suggestion he was ever in the same category as the other big off-season Essendon District league recruits, saying coach Mick McGuane was probably giving him too big a rap.
But something clearly went right this year, as Van Riet showed his skill as a prolific ball-winner and was recognised with 18 votes in the Reynolds medal count.
He edged out Strathmore’s Matt Fitzgerald by one, after overtaking two players with his three-vote performance in the final game of the home-and-away season against West Coburg.
Van Riet played senior football for Seymour in the Goulburn Valley Football League through its golden era, winning three premierships and making four consecutive grand finals between 2005 and 2008.
He had switched clubs to join Aberfeldie in 2008 but found his way back to the Goulburn Valley to play for the Lions in the grand final against Rochester, an agonising three-point loss that still brings back painful memories for the 25-year-old.
Commitment to Melbourne in 2009 would be permanent though, with Van Riet playing the full season for Aberfeldie before being recruited by McGuane to his Keilor outfit this season.
A prolific ball winner, Van Riet’s sleeved arms put hands on the ball as often as any midfielder during the season.
He described his role as one of a ball winner, trying to set loose better kicks of the football like Matt Pearce and Kieran Prowse.
But the self-assessment sells Van Riet short, whose own turn of pace and ability to find open space was vital in moving the ball through the centre for Keilor this season.
Van Riet was rarely out of Keilor’s best as he played all 18 home-and-away games and was named in the best 14 times.
He also kicked six goals in the home-and-away season.
Only 16 players broke into double-figure votes in what was an even count, with a trio of ruckmen — Maribyrnong Park’s Chris Stewart, Greenvale’s Simon Potter and Craigieburn’s Barry Brooks — all making the top 10. Triple Reynolds medallist Rabee Haouchar polled 11 votes to finish equal event, while an injury-interrupted year cost duel reigning medallist Heath Ayres of Maribyrnong Park any shot at a hat-trick as he polled eight votes and finished equal 19th.
‘‘I didn’t really think about the medal until Mick (McGuane) made an announcement two Thursdays ago about going. A few of the boys got around me and said I’d had a good year, I thought maybe I’d finish in the top half a dozen," Van Riet said.
‘‘Footy’s always been a game that I love but, with all due respect, it’s not something I strive to do. I’ve always been lucky that I am good, I play for the mateship, guys like Rick Marcy, Adrian Moore, Matty Pearce, that’s more the reason I play.
‘‘I think Mick gave me too big a rap (in pre-season), that was more of a push from him. It makes you work harder.’’
‘‘Mick instils a lot of belief in the young kids, but the blokes my age and experienced guys, he knows how to speak to us. He’s knowledgeable and passionate, I think that’s a by-product of wanting to be a winner, no matter what the situation, in footy or life.
‘‘It rubs off on the playing group.’’
Keilor made a 22-point exit from the A-grade finals after losing to reigning premier Maribyrnong Park at Windy Hill at the weekend.
Van Riet said the medal was only a minor consolation on missing out on a grand final date with Greenvale, the team that held on to beat Keilor by just two points in the second semi-final.
‘‘What happened tonight will eventually sink in, how lucky I am to be named with all the good players in there.
‘‘It’s an honour to win the medal in a competition like the EDFL which is coming along in leaps and bounds and is in the top two leagues in metro Victoria.’’
There are no thoughts of winning a Morrison medal back in the Goulburn Valley league any time soon.
Van Riet, a WorkSafe employee in the Maribyrnong area, saying his desire at this point was to win an Essendon District league premiership with Keilor.
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