The 18-year-old stormed home in the back end of the count to claim the Daniel McPherson medal by one vote with 117, ahead of ruckman Jacob Olsson.

Olsson won the Jim Quinn Medal late last month with Hamblin finishing third, but it was the goalkicking midfielder who claimed bragging rights for the Lions.

Much like the Jim Quinn Medal count, Olsson had a healthy lead after picking up a lot of votes in the middle part of the season, before Hamblin polled strongly down the stretch to edge him out.

Hamblin also won last year's AFL Riverina Championship player of the year and was considered extremely unlucky not to earn Allies selection this year.

Matt's father and club president, Jason Hamblin, said he will assess where he stands before next month's AFL Draft before he decides where to play.

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It is understood Hamblin has attracted strong interest from a handful of SANFL and Ovens and Murray clubs.

"It can't be a bad thing (having awards on his CV), he's ticking all the boxes but where he's on anyone's radar is hard to gauge," Jason said.

"We have conversations with clubs but they keep things pretty close to their chest. But he's a realist and knows there's heaps of footballers as good as him all over the country.

"We've been in a situation where we've been lucky to play a bit more footy than the Victorians. He'll wait until November, see where everything falls and then he'll make a decision on where he's playing footy."

The likes of Leeton product Cooper Sharman, who debuted with St Kilda and signed for a further two years after starting the year in SANFL, is a prime example of what opportunities can present themselves.

"He'll get some feedback from the Giants to see where he stands there. He's got a lot of decisions to make in the next five to six weeks," Jason said.

"If he's at a stage where he thinks he can get drafted, he has to go to a state league. If he thinks he's close enough, he'll go and play state league footy."

In netball awards, Prue Walsh moved just one behind older sister Brooke in best and fairest accolades after claiming her third gong.

Daniel McPherson Medal: Matt Hamblin 117, Jacob Olsson 116, Tom Anderson 90, Jesse Lander 88, Ben Walsh 58

Under 17.5: Best and fairest - Connor Smith; Runner up - Jacob Kerrisk

Reserve grade: Best and fairest - Matt Angel, Runner up - Jake Angel

Clubperson of the year: Brent Fennessy

Dookie Crozier trophy: Tom Anderson

Netball best and fairests: First grade - Prue Walsh; A reserve - Annabelle Mortensen; B grade - Holli Walsh; C grade - Kate Foley; Under 17.5s - Abbey Hamblin;

Netball clubperson of the year: Chloe Hamblin

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