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"AN ABSOLUTE freak of a footballer" was how Huntly's Stacy Fiske described Hawks' midfield dynamo Ryan Semmel in August of 2018.
Semmel had just become the first player in Heathcote District league history to win three Cheatley medals.
"He's an absolute freak of a footballer, but it hasn't happened by accident," said Fiske, who was coach of the Hawks when they recruited Semmel from the Shepparton Swans in 2012.
"People see him train on a Tuesday and Thursday, but I know the effort he puts in on the off nights is just enormous... you've got to remember he's 31 and still winning league medals.
"He's an absolute animal when it comes to his training and his preparation is meticulous. He has barely missed any games because he's just a perfectionist off the field."
Not surprisingly given he has won three of the eight Cheatley medals (2018, 2016 and 2013) during the time period, Semmel has taken out the No.1 spot for the most Addy ranking points in the Heathcote District league since 2012.
The Addy's player rankings use a system based on the weekly six best players submitted by clubs, with a weighting given towards contributions made to a winning team (similar to the starting point for umpires in casting votes post-match) that produce a ranking total.
The points system:
Winning team - 1st best (16.0 points); 2nd best (13.5); 3rd best (11.0); 4th best (8.5); 5th best (6.0); 6th best (3.5).
Losing team - 1st best (7.0); 2nd best (6.0); 3rd best (5.0); 4th best (4.0); 5th best (3.0); 6th best (2.0).
Drawn game (both teams) - 1st best (10.0); 2nd best (8.5); 3rd best (7.0); 4th best (5.5); 5th best (4.0); 6th best (2.5).
In short, the rankings aim to reflect performing consistently, contributions to a winning team and longevity, with Semmel taking out the No.1 spot with 648.5 points.
Semmel has featured among the Hawks' best players in 65 games through the period, including 43 where he was rated among their top three performers.
Semmel - who got through to episode nine in the first season of The Recruit in 2014 - has proven to be a double act for the Hawks.
Not just a powerfully built midfielder, Semmel also ranks No.9 for goals kicked in the HDFL since 2012 with 190.
Such has been his consistency for the Hawks, even despite his departures in 2014 and 2019 - he was to return this year - Semmel is 133.5 points clear of his nearest rival, North Bendigo stalwart Aarryn Craig.
Craig, who reached the 200-game milestone for the Bulldogs last year, took out the No.2 slot with 515.0 points, edging out North Bendigo team-mate Jordan Ford (505.0 points).
Craig and Ford are among five North Bendigo players in the top 10, along with last year's Cheatley medallist Joel Helman (No.7), who also played with Leitchville-Gunbower, 2014 Cheatley medallist Tyson Findlay (No.8) and 2017 Cheatley medallist Jarrod Findlay (No.10).
TOP 50 RANKED PLAYERS 2012-19
1 - Ryan Semmel
(Huntly)
Rank points: 648.5
Times in best: 65
No.1: 19 Top 3: 43
Cheatley Medal: 2013, 2016 and 2018
............................................
2 - Aarryn Craig
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 515.0
Times in best: 64
No.1: 6 Top 3: 28
............................................
3 - Jordan Ford
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 505.0
Times in best: 52
No.1: 15 Top 3: 33
............................................
4 - Liam Main
(LBU)
Rank points: 440.0
Times in best: 52
No.1: 13 Top 3: 28
............................................
5 - Harry Whittle
(Huntly)
Rank points: 435.0
Times in best: 54
No.1: 16 Top 3: 35
............................................
6 - Stacy Fiske
(Huntly)
Rank points: 429.5
Times in best: 59
No.1: 14 Top 3: 32
............................................
7 - Joel Helman
(Leitchville-Gunbower,
North Bendigo)
Rank points: 415.5
Times in best: 47
No.1: 8 Top 3: 25
Cheatley Medal: 2019
............................................
8 - Tyson Findlay
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 415.5
Times in best: 41
No.1: 7 Top 3: 27
Cheatley Medal - 2014
............................................
9 - Tom Hill
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 413.5
Times in best: 46
No.1: 10 Top 3: 32
............................................
10 - Jarrod Findlay
(North Bendigo,
Mount Pleasant)
Rank points: 405.0
Times in best: 45
No.1: 11 Top 3: 29
Cheatley Medal: 2017
............................................
11 - Marcus Angove
(LBU)
Rank points: 397.5
Times in best: 57
No.1: 12 Top 3: 27
............................................
12 - Jake Condon
(Heathcote)
Rank points: 391.0
Times in best: 55
No.1: 16 Top 3: 40
............................................
13 - Ryan Alford
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 389.5
Times in best: 51
No.1: 7 Top 3: 21
............................................
14 - Pat O'Brien
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 385.0
Times in best: 50
No.1: 8 Top 3: 28
............................................
15 - Ash Craig
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 381.5
Times in best: 42
No.1: 11 Top 3: 26
............................................
16 - Tim Lincoln
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 379.0
Times in best: 36
No.1: 8 Top 3: 20
............................................
17 - David Wright
(White Hills)
Rank points: 377.0
Times in best: 51
No.1: 13 Top 3: 32
............................................
18 - Ryley Dickens
(Huntly, White Hills)
Rank points: 361.5
Times in best: 46
No.1: 11 Top 3: 30
............................................
19 - Darcy McLean
(Heathcote)
Rank points: 350.5
Times in best: 54
No.1: 11 Top 3: 36
............................................
20 - Jackson McEwen
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 336.5
Times in best: 34
No.1: 12 Top 3: 21
............................................
21 - Hayden Wright
(White Hills)
Rank points: 326.5
Times in best: 41
No.1: 8 Top 3: 22
............................................
22 - Brady Herdman
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 317.0
Times in best: 29
No.1: 13 Top 3: 19
............................................
23 - Matt Bongiovanni
(LBU)
Rank points: 316.5
Times in best: 36
No.1: 10 Top 3: 21
............................................
24 - Daniel Coates
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 316.5
Times in best: 29
No.1: 10 Top 3: 18
............................................
25 - Marc Millard
(Heathcote)
Rank points: 312.5
Times in best: 44
No.1: 9 Top 3: 23
............................................
26 - Matt Riordan
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 306.0
Times in best: 37
No.1: 4 Top 3: 20
............................................
27 - Daniel Carroll
(Heathcote)
Rank points: 299.5
Times in best: 42
No.1: 15 Top 3: 28
............................................
28 - Adrian Dohnt
(LBU)
Rank points: 292.0
Times in best: 30
No.1: 5 Top 3: 21
............................................
29 - Jye Keath
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 289.0
Times in best: 31
No.1: 8 Top 3: 23
............................................
30 - Sam Vale
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 288.5
Times in best: 34
No.1: 6 Top 3: 18
............................................
31 - Matt Lehane
(White Hills)
Rank points: 282.5
Times in best: 37
No.1: 11 Top 3: 25
............................................
32 - Will Morrow
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 282.0
Times in best: 37
No.1: 8 Top 3: 18
............................................
33 - Simon Keleher
(LBU)
Rank points: 278.5
Times in best: 32
No.1: 5 Top 3: 15
............................................
34 - Nick Knight
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 271.5
Times in best: 26
No.1: 6 Top 3: 16
............................................
35 - Sean Morris
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 267.0
Times in best: 29
No.1: 8 Top 3: 17
............................................
36 - Jaydon Cowling
(Huntly)
Rank points: 265.0
Times in best: 29
No.1: 7 Top 3: 24
............................................
37 - Danny Brewster
(Elmore)
Rank points: 263.5
Times in best: 35
No.1: 6 Top 3: 27
............................................
38 - Matt Perri
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 260.5
Times in best: 25
No.1: 7 Top 3: 16
............................................
39 - Nick Edwards
(Mount Pleasant)
Rank points: 259.5
Times in best: 43
No.1: 6 Top 3: 19
............................................
40 - Hadleigh Sirett
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 258.0
Times in best: 40
No.1: 2 Top 3: 18
............................................
41 - Jarrod Bacon
(LBU)
Rank points: 254.0
Times in best: 24
No.1: 7 Top 3: 15
............................................
42 - Matt Pollock
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 253.0
Times in best: 27
No.1: 3 Top 3: 16
............................................
43 - Daniel Russell
(Heathcote)
Rank points: 247.0
Times in best: 35
No.1: 5 Top 3: 23
............................................
44 - Damien Carmody
(Colbinabbin)
Rank points: 247.0
Times in best: 26
No.1: 7 Top 3: 17
............................................
45 - Josh Harris
(Huntly)
Rank points: 246.5
Times in best: 35
No.1: 6 Top 3: 16
............................................
46 - Darcy Richards
(North Bendigo)
Rank points: 236.0
Times in best: 31
No.1: 1 Top 3: 17
............................................
47 - Chris Hudson
(LBU)
Rank points: 235.0
Times in best: 25
No.1: 6 Top 3: 16
............................................
48 - Matt Ladson
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 234.5
Times in best: 22
No.1: 3 Top 3: 15
............................................
49 - Gavin Bowles
(White Hills)
Rank points: 229.0
Times in best: 33
No.1: 7 Top 3: 15
............................................
50 - Lee Pollock
(Leitchville-Gunbower)
Rank points: 229.0
Times in best: 31
No.1: 8 Top 3: 13
............................................
MOST GAMES NAMED IN BEST 2012-19
65 - Ryan Semmel
64 - Aarryn Craig
59 - Stacy Fiske
57 - Marcus Angove
55 - Jake Condon
54 - Harry Whittle
54 - Darcy McLean
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51 - Josh Gitsham
(North Bendigo) - 223.5
..........................................
52 - Grant Weeks
(Colbinabbin) - 223.0
..........................................
53 - David Price
(Colbinabbin) - 221.0
..........................................
54 - Jake Allport
(White Hills) - 218.5
..........................................
55 - Daniel Sipthorp
(North Bendigo) - 218.0
..........................................
56 - Brett Strange
(North Bendigo) - 217.5
..........................................
57 - Braidy Dickens
(Huntly) - 216.5
..........................................
58 - Jeremy Mills
(North Bendigo) - 215.5
..........................................
59 - Phil Ryan
(Huntly) - 205.5
..........................................
60 - Chris Gleeson
(Huntly) - 204.0
..........................................
61 - Jack Hayes
(Elmore) - 199.5
..........................................
62 - Lachlan Collins
(LBU) - 199.0
..........................................
63 - Rhys Woodland
(LBU) - 198.0
..........................................
64 - Ben Weightman
(Mount Pleasant) - 197.5
..........................................
65 - Alex Shipard
(North Bendigo) - 195.5
..........................................
66 - Jack Paisley
(Heathcote) - 194.5
..........................................
67 - Daniel Couwenberg
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 194.5
..........................................
68 - Sam Barnes
(North Bendigo) - 191.5
..........................................
69 - Logan Prout
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 190.0
..........................................
70 - Lochlan Sirett
(Colbinabbin) - 187.5
..........................................
71 - Steve Pretty
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 186.5
..........................................
72 - Russell Lee
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 186.5
..........................................
73 - Koe Ngawati
(Mount Pleasant) - 184.5
..........................................
74 - Taig Griffin
(Mount Pleasant) - 183.0
..........................................
75 - Jake Dickens
(White Hills) - 182.5
..........................................
76 - Chris Black
(Mount Pleasant) - 181.0
..........................................
77 - Adam Decicco
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 180.0
..........................................
78 - Tim O'Dwyer
(Colbinabbin) - 178.0
..........................................
79 - Darcy Booth
(Colbinabbin) - 176.0
..........................................
80 - Brady Hore
(L'ville-Gunbower) - 173.5
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