Alex Lee claims coveted Phelan Medal

The 26-year-old polled 19 votes, two votes ahead of teammate Ben Mankarious and St George’s Declan Donohue.

While it was a fitting reward for the consistency the midfield/forward has shown all season, this weekend’s grand final will be the last time he dons the Sydney University Guernsey for at least a year.

The financial advisor will be taking the 2011 season off footy as he jet-sets around the world.

“I’m a bit surprised actually, I had odds on favourite for Macca [Adam McConnochie] followed by Manka [Ben Mankarious] and Kieran Wright so yeah it was a good surprise,” Lee said.

Lee’s victory is only the third time in the club’s 123 year history that a player has won the coveted Phelan Medal – with only Brydon Coles (2009) and Michael Davis (1990) before him.

After an impressive year for Sydney University which saw the team claim the minor premiership, a memorable achievement considering the club finished sixth last season, the Students are currently sitting on an undefeated streak stretching back to round four.

Although, Lee said the year will count for little if the club doesn’t win this Saturday’s grand final against last year’s premiers East Coast Eagles at Blacktown Olympic Park.

“In the last couple of years we haven’t done much [on the field] so this year is a big improvement – we’ve won 15 games [in a row] now but there’s still one more week to go,” he said.

“No disrespect to the Phelan Medal but I would love to win the flag – it is what you play footy for.

“I think the Phelan is a compliment to the team awards as well, you don’t play good by yourself, but I’d love to win the flag.”

Having only re-entered the premier division competition in 2007 after playing intermittently in a number of lower divisions, the club has become the benchmark of the competition this season.

With an average age of 21 on their senior list and the club also taking part in the division one and under 18 premier cup grand finals on Saturday the future is certainly looking bright for Sydney University.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that played last year then we also got a few players from other teams but most importantly we were able to keep the squad together which is hard for a university team,” Lee said.

After five years playing in AFL Sydney, Lee will take next year off as he travels around the world. His teammates and the wider football community will be eagerly anticipating his return in the 2012 season.

East Coast Eagles utility Damien Bowles polled the most Phelan Medal votes (21) but was ineligible to win the award after serving a two match suspension for being reported in Round 15.