The worrying lack of recognition for the key defender’s off AFL’s ‘Hollywood Boulevard’

It’s been 32 years since a defender won a Brownlow – but the way coaches snub the backmen off AFL’s ‘Hollywood Boulevard’ is even more of a worry, writes JAY CLARK.

It’s become the loneliest job in football.

While the dashing half backs, gun-slinging forwards and power midfielders take up all the spots on AFL’s ‘Hollywood Boulevard’, the key game’s defenders remain stranded on their own barren island.

It’s been 32 years since a defender, the magnificent Gavin Wanganeen, last won a Brownlow medal, while Geelong superstar Tom Stewart was the only man to poll inside the top 30 from the back end last year.

But it’s not only the umpires and the media who aren’t giving the game’s most defensively-minded, selfless and disciplined players a lack of love.

If ever there was a lack of recognition for the game’s backmen, it comes from the AFL’s coaches.

Gavin Wanganeen won the 1993 Brownlow Medal.

Remarkably, there is only one key defender rated inside the top 67 players in the game this season, according to the AFL Coaches’ Association votes.

That man is Hawthorn’s Josh Battle, whose beautiful ball use makes him more of a rebounding type, anyway.

But if we skip down to the one true proper stopper, it’s GWS Giant Sam Taylor in 68th.

That is a staggering lack of acknowledgment for the bloke who has been involved in the most defensive one-on-ones for the least number of contest losses in the game.

Yes, Taylor turns the ball over more than he would like and doesn’t have the bullet passing ability which made Jeremy McGovern a two-way weapon.

But if Taylor is really the 68th best player in the game, then can it really be true that defence wins premierships?

Because as it stands, what he does in the air to curtail the superstar key forwards like Jesse Hogan and Jeremy Cameron either isn’t valued or just not recognised well enough. Not yet, anyway.

Not only do these men not get the stat for the spoils, they also don’t get the credit in probably the most respected award in the game.

There are other contributing factors which will spark debate such as whether the class of key defenders in the modern game matches previous eras.

Over the past 20 years, there have been key defenders who truly dominated games.

Cat Matthew Scarlett was unpassable, and would give ‘Big Bad’ Barry Hall nightmares.

Tiger Alex Rance changed the game with his intercept marking, helping rebound the Tigers to two of their three most recent premierships.

And Dom Sheed doesn’t kick the most clutch set shot in Grand Final history without McGovern’s mercurial intercept which pulled the premiership rug from underneath Collingwood in 2018.

The McGovern mark is one of the most underrated moments in grand final history, and if it is true that Sheed hasn’t paid for a single beer in a Perth pub since, then let’s hope he shouts his trusty teammate, too.

Likewise, Tom Boyd booted Western Bulldogs to a drought-breaking flag with the unforgettable long bomb in 2016.

But it doesn’t happen without the Dale Morris tackle on Lance Franklin which spilled the Sherrin directly to Boyd.

The price McGovern paid for his physical selflessness is clear for all to see, forced into medical retirement due to his worrying concussions.

Stewart is perhaps the next best defender, but he is more in the intercept and rebound mould which better serves the modern game’s needs.

But broadly, who is the next great key defender?

In Champion Data’s mid-season All-Australian team, centre half back was Jack Silvagni, who is in his first year playing in defence.

Jeremy McGovern’s famous Grand Final mark

So McGovern’s retirement adds to the belief we don’t have a Glen Jakovich or Steven Silvagni in today’s footy, whose one-on-one match ups with Wayne Carey and Gary Ablett were once the biggest drawcards in the game in the 90s.

The Jakovich-Carey battle doesn’t exist in today’s footy because the game is played in a congested bubble where the dominant midfielders surround the ball wherever it travels for the bulk of the contest.

That is why it is a midfielders’ game, and all the awards are midfielders’ medals.

And when they don’t have it, it’s the explosive half back such as Connor Rozee, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Lachie Ash and Bailey Dale who control the flow.

But the big men are still having a big impact inside forward 50m.

For all the talk about the small forwards being the biggest threat in the modern game, eight of the top-10 goal kickers are still all key forwards.

Only Collingwood’s 177cm spear Jamie Elliott, who is in third on 34 goals, and St Kilda livewire Jack Higgins, who is sixth on 30 majors, are in the top-10 of the Coleman Medal race.

Jeremy Cameron still casts one of the largest shadows in the premiership race and the prospect of Sam Darcy dominating for the next decade has been the talking point of the week.

St Kilda is desperately missing Max King who is out with another knee injury after signing an eight-year contract extension last year. That is how important the Saints think he is to the build.

And recruiters are worrying, who is going to stop Darcy, in particular?

Sam Darcy's triumphant return last week

But which kids in their right mind at Auskick clinics around the country on Friday night or Saturday morning would be thinking of joining the key defenders’ group?

They would be mad. Tall kids would bend down to make sure they could join the midfielders’ group where all the action is.

If it wasn’t for the late great Danny Frawley’s Golden First award on Fox Footy they are in danger of being forgotten all together if not for a move from the AFL Coaches Association to collect separately a vote for the best defensive player from each game.

The Herald Sun understands the coaches are aware of the lack of recognition for the defenders and have set in motion a plan to introduce a new award, but not until next season.

The men on the loneliest island in footy are about to be thrown a bone, at least.

The coaches know the players’ roles, the sacrificial running, the defensive requirements, and the importance better than anyone, but as it stands they get donuts at the top level.

And it is not just Taylor who has been given the cold shoulder this year.

Collingwood captain Darcy Moore has polled coaches votes in only one game, Jacob Weitering has seven votes across three matches, same as Swan Tom McCartin, while Melbourne’s Jake Lever and Steven May have seven votes between them.

Jacob Weitering of the Blues goes at it against Eagles Matt Flynn and Jack Williams. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Brisbane star Harris Andrews and Saints’ workhorse Callum Wilkie, who plays his absolute heart out each week, have polled in two games each, while the Richmond maestro Nick Vlastuin has gone 10, one, one and one for 13.

Stewart, who to be fair has been hobbled by a serious knee injury and has done well to get out there at all this year, polled his first votes last week, while Jack Henry has five in total.

They represent the best defensive system in the competition alongside Mark Blicavs and Sam De Koning.

And Essendon’s Ben McKay who is one of the highest paid players in the game, is yet to trouble the scorers.

The Bombers’ million-dollar man is on zero votes in 2025.

But it is largely symptomatic of the whole key defensive cohort who must feel like they get zero recognition in the modern game.

Defenders set for new award – but who should it be named after?

The AFL’s senior and assistant coaches are privately voting for the best defensive player from each game as part of a new defenders’ award set for next year.

The Herald Sun can reveal the AFL Coaches’ Association has begun collecting votes for the best defensive player from each club each week to help better recognise defenders and defensive acts in the AFL.

It is designed to credit not only key defenders but also lock-down small backmen, tagging midfielders and pressure-applying small forwards for their defensive contributions in the game.

The data is being collated this season as part of a trial run of the system and how it might look towards the end of the year.

Players who have been identified this year include Brisbane’s Jack Payne, who suffered a season-ending patella injury last week, as well as GWS Giants’ Sam Taylor, and retired West Coast Eagle Jeremy McGovern, who announced his retirement on Friday due to his concussion issues.

But the award may not be unveiled until next year as part of a sponsored initiative from the AFL CA pending ongoing talks.

Geelong great Matthew Scarlett.

It is unclear if the defensive player of the year award will be named in honour of a defensive legend of the game such as Matthew Scarlett, Dustin Fletcher, David Dench, Stephen Silvagni or Danny Frawley.

It comes amid a current a lack of recognition and acknowledgment for key defenders, in particular, in the modern game.

The AFL’s coaching cohort have privately acknowledged the defenders should receive more acclaim in the game amid an increasing focus on midfielders’ influence around the ball and the top goal kickers who vie for the Coleman Medal.

There is only one key defender – Hawthorn’s Josh Battle – who figures in the top 67 players of the AFL Coaches’ Association player of the year award.

Taylor, who has defended the most one-on-one marking contests this year for the lowest loss rate, is ranked number 68.

The All-Australian and GWS Giants’ best and fairest is widely rated the best key defender in the game, but the group of key backmen have been largely overlooked in the player of the year voting.

Each week coaches from both sides vote 5-4-3-2-1 for the best players from the game.

Geelong jet Bailey Smith (22 votes) is five votes ahead of Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson and third-placed Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson (16) in the Herald Sun’s player of the year.

Melbourne’s Max Gawn (12) is the only non-midfielder in the top-nine players.

Originally published as The worrying lack of recognition for the key defender’s off AFL’s ‘Hollywood Boulevard’