Josh Power Claims 2025 Tyrepower Medal

The 2025 Tyrepower Medal Presentation Night was conducted at the Manjimup Country Club on Friday, August 29. With a big weekend of football culminating in the 2nd Semi Final at Rea Park on the Sunday, a large crowd of players, officials and sponsors gathered for the count. 

Leading into the count, much of the intrigue surrounded whether David Cowan could claim his third consecutive medal, Brett Wilson could add another to his collection, or whether the likes of Matt Marinoni or Josh Power could break through for their first. 

The 2023 and 2024 winner surged out of the blocks, polling top votes in Boyup Brook’s opening two games. Power himself was also off to a fast start, with a 3 vote effort in the Round 1 win over Southerners, backed up by a 5 vote performance in the 70 point win over Deanmill. Brett Wilson picked up 10 votes in the opening three rounds, with a consistent set of performances that saw him poll in all three games. 

Power and Cowan continued to set the pace in the next block of the count, Cowan leading on 23 by the time the count reached Round 6, while Power sat 3 votes behind. Wilson was in third at this point, while Southerners’ pair, Seaton Thompson and Ben Cabassi, joined the leaderboard. Cabassi polled in three of the first six rounds, picking up a 5 vote maximum with his 6 goal effort against Boyup Brook in Round 6. 

Power made his move in the next block of votes, picking up another 9 votes in two games, with Bridgetown having the Round 8 bye. Cowan polled 4 in the same period, with a big 89 point loss to Deanmill in Round 7 seeing the votes all head the Hawks’ way. Jordan Strahan collected 5 votes with a 7 goal effort, before he again polled the maximum after his 8 goals against Tigers in Round 9. 

Power continued to lead as the count reached Round 12, though both he and Cowan saw their respective margins narrowed in this block. Wilson closed in, as did Kojonup trio of Marinoni, Lachlan O’Shea and Lee Lucev. Lucev had picked up 11 votes in six weeks, including a 5 vote effort for his 12 goal performance in Round 7, while Marinoni had a hot streak, polling 14 votes in three games between Round 10 and 12. 

The votes kept coming for Marinoni, who narrowed the margin even further between Rounds 13 and 15, whilst also jumping to outright third. 

As the leaderboard went up at the end of Round 15, there were three possible winners with a maximum of 10 votes available, though one of the trio, Cowan, had the Round 17 bye. 

With six games of the season remaining, Power led on 39, while Cowan was still in the Runner Up slot on 36. Marinoni was still several votes further back on 31, but with a couple of maximums against Boyup Brook and Bridgetown – could still take home the medal if Power had a rare pair of quiet games. 

The Kojonup v Boyup Brook Round 16 clash had the potential to be crucial in the overall scheme of things, and as the votes were read out, it was Cowan’s name out first, with 1 vote. This officially ended Cowan’s chances of a three-peat, as his final tally of 37 could no longer catch Power. With Kojonup winning the game by 70 points, it seemed likely Kojonup would dominate the votes from here, and so it would prove to be as Travis Abbott and Hugh Hassell recorded votes, before Marinoni picked up 4 and Lucev 5. 

Marinoni’s votes left it mathematically possible for him to claim the medal, as he now trailed Power by 4 votes with a game remaining. Power, however, still had his Round 16 game to call as well as a head to head showdown with Kojonup in Round 17. The Imperials v Bridgetown game resulted in a healthy win for the Bulldogs, and Power had appeared in the best player list. Tim Mayers, Brett Wilson and Tom Danks took the 1, 2 and 3 votes respectively, before Power grabbed 4. This pushed Power to 43 and effectively ended the count, with Marinoni no longer able to catch him.

Power polled another 2 in Round 17, while Marinoni ended the season with another 5 vote performance, leaving Power the winner by 5 votes. Marinoni recorded a Runner Up finish after an outstanding season, while Cowan placed 3rd. The Top 15 are listed below. 

A big thank you to Tyrepower Manjimup for their support of the Lower South West Football League, along with Johnson’s Food Services, who sponsor the Runner Up Best & Fairest trophy.