OAKLEIGH Chargers livewire Jai Saxena has stormed atop the Rookie Me Central Medal leaderboard after a second consecutive best afield performance. The Collingwood Next Generation Academy (NGA) prospect booted five goals in his side’s Round 3 loss to Sandringham after breaking out last week.

>> SCROLL for the Round 3 votes & leaderboard

Saxena, tied to the Magpies via to his Indian heritage, has improved rapidly over the last few months. He came into the 2025 season as a relative unknown but has quickly made his mark, as proven by a leading tally of six votes in our independant Coates Talent League best and fairest award count.

He tops the charts ahead Hunter Wright (Bendigo) and Rory Wright (Sandringham), the latter of whom is the only remaining player to have polled in each round. The Dragons midfielder is yet to boast a full three-vote game though, a feat which his namesake achieved in Round 1 against Tasmania.

Another Collingwood-bound prospect in Thomas McGuane (son of Mick) was best afield in the Western Jets’ loss to Eastern, and also features among the extended podium places. The classy on-baller took out Player of the Week honours for his 38 disposals and 10 clearances at Avalon Airport Oval.

A third club-tied player features on the current leaderboard in Essendon NGA member Adam Sweid. He, too was part of a losing cause as Calder went down to Northern, but impressed with 30 disposals, nine tackles and six clearances. The 175cm talent is storming up the ranks for his early-season form.

There may well be a couple of casualties to the podium places once the Mid-Season Draft comes along. Over-agers Zac Walker (Gippsland) and Floyd Burmeister (GWV) polled again this week to land on four votes apiece. The former is a tall intercept defender, while the latter is an athletic key forward.

Things will be shaken up in Round 4 with the arrival of the Northern Academies. While players from said programs are ineligible to be named in our Team of the Year due to not playing enough games, all votes from fixtures featuring the academies will count towards the Rookie Me Central Medal.

>> CTL ROUND 3: Snapshot | Player of the Week | Team of the Week | Scouting Notes

ROUND 3 VOTES

Calder Cannons 10.13 (73) def. by Northern Knights 12.6 (78)
By: Adrian Dixon

3 – Ryan Commandeur (Northern Knights)
2 – Adam Sweid (Calder Cannons)
1 – Mitchell Moate (Northern Knights)

Western Jets 7.9 (51) def. by Eastern Ranges 16.14 (110)
By: Michael Alvaro

3 – Thomas McGuane (Western Jets)
2 – Mitchell Hansen (Eastern Ranges)
1 – Jamie Gilchrist (Eastern Ranges)

Sandringham Dragons 13.9 (87) def. Oakleigh Chargers 9.17 (71)
By: Michael Alvaro

3 – Jai Saxena (Oakleigh Chargers)
2 – Rory Wright (Sandringham Dragons)
1 – Zac McCarthy (Oakleigh Chargers)

Bendigo Pioneers 8.8 (56) def. by Gippsland Power 11.10 (76)
By: Michael Alvaro

3 – Tom Evans (Bendigo Pioneers)
2 – Zac Walker (Gippsland Power)
1 – Thomas Matthews (Gippsland Power)

Geelong Falcons 15.8 (98) def. Murray Bushrangers 3.10 (28)
By: Michael Alvaro

3 – Tanner Armstrong (Murray Bushrangers)
2 – Angus Ford (Geelong Falcons)
1 – Jesse Mellor (Geelong Falcons)

GWV Rebels 7.8 (50) def. by Dandenong Stingrays 7.20 (62)
By: Michael Alvaro

3 – Callum Smith (Dandenong Stingrays)
2 – Tairon Ah-Mu (Dandenong Stingrays)
1 – Floyd Burmeister (GWV Rebels)

TOP FIVE LEADERBOARD

1. Jai Saxena (Oakleigh Chargers) – 6 votes [3, 3]
eq. 2. Hunter Wright (Bendigo Pioneers) – 5 votes [3, 2]
eq. 2. Rory Wright (Sandringham Dragons) – 5 votes [2, 1, 2]
eq. 3. Floyd Burmeister (GWV Rebels) – 4 votes [3, 1]
eq. 3. Thomas McGuane (Western Jets) – 4 votes [1, 3]
eq. 3. Adam Sweid (Calder Cannons) – 4 votes [2, 2]
eq. 3. Zac Walker (Gippsland Power) – 4 votes [2, 2]

LEADERS BY CLUB

Bendigo Pioneers – Hunter Wright (5)
Calder Cannons – Adam Sweid (4)
Dandenong Stingrays – Callum Smith (3)
Eastern Ranges – Oliver Greeves (3)
Geelong Falcons – Josh Lindsay (3)
Gippsland Power – Zac Walker (4)
GWV Rebels – Floyd Burmeister (4)
Murray Bushrangers – Tanner Armstrong & Liam Hetherton (3)
Northern Knights – Ryan Commandeur & Sebastian Murphy (3)
Oakleigh Chargers – Jai Saxena (6)
Sandringham Dragons – Rory Wright (5)
Tasmania Devils – Jack Miller (1)
Western Jets – Thomas McGuane (4)