Passion to return to the WAFL still there for Railways’ Matt Palfrey after winning second Kleemann Medal

Railways star Matt Palfrey claimed his second Kleemann Medal in three years, recognised for another outstanding Great Southern Football League season on Thursday night. In the 64th edition of the count, Palfrey and Mt Barker’s Zach Jackson shared the GSFL’s top individual honour with 21 votes. The former Claremont forward missed two games and suffered a concussion early on in another match but was judged best afield seven times in a sparkling 2022 campaign. The 26-year-old also had the honour of playing for WA Country in a State clash with South Australia and said he still aspired to return to the WAFL. Palfrey said he was thrilled to receive his second medal and he entered the count unsure as to whether missing two games during the season would prove the difference between finishing first and second. “It’s obviously really nice to win it and be recognised by the umpires over the season,” he said. “Winning it by yourself is good but winning with someone else is also just as good, in a way. “Later on in the year I was missing a couple of games where I went to State and played in the WAFL. “I really didn’t know if I had played in enough games to keep up with Zach (Jackson) but I knew it would be between the two of us. “He played more games than me so I was actually sort of expecting him to get over me, to be honest. “But at the end of the day it was obviously really good to get up there and win the award.” Palfrey was named a joint winner in 2020, finishing on 11 votes with teammate Kane Shephard in a shortened season. His 2022 medal win continues the Tigers’ strong recent history in the award. There have been seven medallists from the Tigers in the past eight years with the Shephard-Palfrey tie, Logan Stubber (2019), Joel Want (2018) and Zane Marwick (2017 and 2015). Palfrey also kicked 53 goals in a prolific season in which he has split his time between the midfield and playing as a key forward. He did not rule out a move back to the WAFL next year. “As far as the WAFL goes, it’s definitely a goal of mine to get up there and play again but there’s a lot of things off-field that have to work,” he said. “Off-field I’ll just need to do whatever makes me happy as far as work and everything. “If I can continue to have a lifestyle up there I’ll move up but if not, I’m happy to stay down here and continue playing.”