Josh hasn’t put a foot wrong in his two years on the AFL list. Recruited from the WAFL at the tender age of 19, Josh came with high expectations having umpired the 2014 and 2015 WAFL grand finals. He was also the recipient of the Devine Medal for the boundary umpire of the year in WA in 2015.
Josh has umpired 37 games in his two seasons on the AFL list and must be very close to umpiring his first final. Josh follows in the footsteps of some very well credentialed winners including 2017 grand final umpires Rob Haala (2004), Mitch Le Fevre (2008) and Damien Cusack (2014).
The medallion is named after Bill Sutton in recognition of his outstanding contribution to boundary umpiring and to the development and career advancement of young boundary umpires in particular.
Bill umpired 127 VFL matches including six finals and the 1974 grand final. He worked at North Melbourne as their running coach for three years under coach Ron Barassi. He returned as the specialist running coach for the VFL in 1984, was appointed in 1986 as the Victorian coach of the AFL boundary umpires and took on the role as AFL National Boundary Umpire Coach in 1993 for three years. He returned to the same role in 2001 and 2002.
Bill was elected as an honorary life member of the AFLUA in 1989. He achieved Hall of Fame status in 2010 and is still an active participant in the association today.
Congratulations Josh.