Nat Fyfe’s suspension could see the first non-midfielder win the Brownlow Medal since 2003
COREY McKERNAN believes the AFL might finally change its Brownlow rules if ineligible star Nat Fyfe finishes a runaway vote-getter while midfielder dominance has taken some of the prestige away from the Medal.
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COREY McKERNAN believes the AFL might finally change its Brownlow rules if ineligible star Nathan Fyfe becomes this year’s runaway vote-getter.
The Herald Sun’s analysis has Fyfe with as many as 19 votes after 13 rounds — two more than Dustin Martin’s 17 at the same stage last year.
Fyfe was suspended for an elbow to Collingwood’s Levi Greenwood, with Bulldog Jack Macrae’s hamstring injury throwing the race even wider open.
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McKernan believes the Brownlow Medal has lost some of its prestige given Adam Goodes is the only non-midfielder of the past 29 winners.
He is hopeful this might be the year to buck the trend, with Max Gawn ($8), Shaun Higgins ($21), Robbie Gray ($21), Brodie Grundy ($21) and Rory Laird ($34) among the contenders.
Tom Mitchell is TAB’s $3 favourite, while $8 second favourite Dustin Martin could have polled in only four games and is 11th in the Herald Sun Player of the Year award.
Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis said the AFL’s trial of four umpires might help them start to recognise the AFL’s star key position defenders and forwards.
Fyfe’s brilliance will likely see him polling five certain best-afields, with two more games in which he could poll votes.
McKernan lost the 1996 Brownlow Medal through suspension but has always said that year’s premiership was more important than an individual medal.
“If Fyfe wins it by miles, it could be the year where the AFL may actually look at (the eligibility),” he told the Herald Sun.
“He could win it by the length of the Flemington straight. If he wins by 10 or 12 votes, it will look pretty weird. It is going to make our night of nights a potentially awkward situation.”
McKernan believes this is the year where a non-midfielder could finally win the Brownlow, wondering if the midfield focus is taking the sheen off the award.
“It is impossible for a defender to win it. Forget about that,’’ he said.
“Maybe someone like Max Gawn is a chance. He takes a really good contested mark and kicks goals, and he plays in a way that will get him votes.
“But it’s funny when you break it down, it’s impossible not to argue it’s just a midfielder’s medal. No disrespect to the umpires but at the end of the day if you are a player who is going to get an award, you would want it to be off your peers or the coaches.”
Hawk Mitchell said Brownlow favouritism doesn’t sit “too comfortably” with him.
“It’s not something my focus is on and it’s not something I am thinking about so it doesn’t faze me too much,” Mitchell said.
Akermanis, Goodes and Gavin Wanganeen are the only non-midfielders to win since Scott Wynd in 1992.
“I think this is could be a way for other players to get recognised,” Akermanis said.
“We have some great ruckmen in Gawn and Grundy and defenders who stop everything coming their way and forwards who five blokes on them but still generate shots at goal.
“With four umpires (spread out over the ground) surely they could say that Alex Rance had eight spoils and three intercept marks and he saved the game, so he was the best player on the ground.”
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Originally published as Nat Fyfe’s suspension could see the first non-midfielder win the Brownlow Medal since 2003