AHEAD of the 2018 Port Adelaide Football Club Best and Fairest event on October 5, we thought we would profile some of the players who could be in contention to win the coveted A. R. McLean Medal as the best player in the club’s SANFL side.

Will Snelling has become an important, consistent and reliable contributor in the Magpies’ midfield.

He finished 2018 as the club’s highest vote-getter at the Magarey Medal count last week with eight votes.

The former state Under-18 captain was able to find the ball in tight and hit the scoreboard on occasion and his ability to perform consistently will give him a good chance of being near the top of the overall leaderboard at the end of the count.

Key stats

Snelling played all 18 SANFL games in 2018, one of just four players to do so.

He was a prolific ball-winner at times and he booted six goals as he found himself in advanced positions more frequently.

The 21-year-old had 148 kicks, 279 handballs at an average of 15.5 per game and averaged 23.7 disposals per game.

He took 62 marks and averaged 8 tackles per game to go with 4.6 clearances per game.

Key games

Snelling was named best on ground in Port Adelaide’s Round 2 win over Glenelg at the Bay after being the leading possession getter with 31 disposals.

He also took four marks and had a game-high 15 tackles.

The AFL rookie-listed midfielder received was busy in the draw against Woodville-West Torrens in Round 3 after having 25 touches, five marks and eight tackles to go with his goal on a difficult day conditions-wise.

The 2015 SANFL premiership player with West was the only Port Adelaide player to receive a vote in the big loss to South in Round 16, picking up two after having 29 touches, six marks and nine tackles.

A week later against his former side he received another two votes after spearheading a comeback at Richmond Oval with three goals and 37 disposals.

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