Brownlow Medal special: What the umpires got wrong at the 2016 count
MAX Gawn’s reaction said it all after he wasn’t awarded three Brownlow votes against Hawthorn in Round 20. With 1188 votes up for grabs, the umpires were sure to get a few things wrong.
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MAX Gawn’s reaction said it all.
The Melbourne ruckman emerged as the competition’s No.1 big man this season and was rewarded with 16 Brownlow Medal votes last night.
But he was a little perplexed that tally wasn’t a little higher and clearly thought he deserved the three votes for his 41 hitouts and eight contested marks in the Demons’ Round 20 win over Hawthorn.
Instead, Gawn received two votes the umpires preferring Jack Viney’s career-high 39 disposals.
Shot of the night still goes to Max Gawn's reaction to only polling 2 votes.#BrownlowMedal #Brownlow
â ð ±RðAN ©ASEY (@BrendoCasey) 26 September 2016
Pic: @Demonblog pic.twitter.com/u7zkcull0h
And he was also stiff not to get maximum votes in the Queen’s Birthday clash against Collingwood, despite 27 disposals and three goals.
Maybe it had something to do with Gawn thumping the ball away after a stray centre bounce with umpire Matthew Nicholls not impressed as he asked: “What did you have to do that for?”
With 1188 Brownlow votes across 23 rounds being awarded last night there were sure to be plenty the umps got wrong and several quirky moments.
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IMPROVING: WHY DANGER IS UNFULFILLED DESPITE BROWNLOW WIN
MARTIN: DUSTY SHOWS FUTURE BROWNLOW POTENTIAL
TWEETS: DANE SWAN’S HILARIOUS BROWNLOW COMMENTARY
BROWNLOW winner blitzed his Geelong teammates, finished 17 votes ahead of next best Joel Selwood. The Cats skipper played second fiddle to Danger the entire night and was even ignored for his 35 disposals and nine clearances against West Coast in Round 7. Dangerfield had 26 disposals and eight clearances but also nine marks and three goal assists to snag the three votes.
HEATH Shaw was one of the just three players to break 200 SuperCoach points in a game this year, but somehow his 40 disposals (which included 36 of his kicks being effective), 14 marks and 203 SC points in Round 9 against the Western Bulldogs were not enough for best-on-ground honours. He got only one vote. For the record, Brisbane captain Tom Rockiff (against Carlton in Round 11 and Dangerfield (North Melbourne, Round 12) were both given three votes for scoring 204 and 229 SC points respectively.
FORMER Carlton champ Mark Maclure may have overlooked Richmond star Dustin Martin’s 43 disposals against Essendon in Round 17 in the ABC media award but he certainly wasn’t missed by the umpires, who deemed his performance worthy of the three votes. Even the AFL’s official statisticians Champion Data sided with Maclure after later revealing Martin had 18 ineffective kicks — the most ever recorded.
MARCUS Bontempelli was snubbed by North Melbourne coach Brad Scott in the coaches votes in Round 20 but Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge thought his young charge was the most influential player on ground. The umps agreed with Beveridge.
WHILE we’re on Dustin and Bontempelli, the pair underlined their Brownlow potential with late surges in the count. Martin entered the night at the second favourite but made a slow start after just two votes in the opening eight rounds before storming home with five three-vote games to finish third. In only his third season, Bontempelli polled 20 votes with 15 of them coming from Round 11 onwards. He started the season as a $101 chance for the medal.
TWO-TIME Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett was never going to be a threat last night but the Gold Coast superstar now shares the record for the most votes with Hawthorn champ Sam Mitchell, weighted to the current 3-2-1 system. Ablett (six votes last night) and Mitchell (16 votes) are now tied on 220 career votes, with the latter also holding the record for most games polled with 104. Ablett is one behind on 103.
WHILE Ablett and Mitchell are vote magnets, spare a thought for Geelong defender Tom Lonergan who is yet to poll a single Brownlow vote and last night claimed the record for most eligible games (170) without a vote.
EVEN American Mason Cox has a Brownlow vote after the Collingwood forward secured the first vote for his country. In just his fourth game, Cox was rewarded for his four goals, 11 hitouts and took two contested marks in the Magpies’ 78-point thrashing of Brisbane belting at the Gabba in Round 8.
Apparently I just got a Brownlow vote. From what I hear that's a good thing.
â Mason Cox (@masonsixtencox) 26 September 2016
GOLD Coast’s Aaron Hall made a flying start with a perfect nine votes from the first three years — the only other players to achieve that feat are Ablett and Paul Salmon. But it quickly went downhill from there with Hall polling just once more.
THE umpires don’t seem to value the work of defenders with this year’s All-Australian back six combining for just 21 votes. Geelong veteran Corey Enright led the way with eight votes followed by Richmond’s Alex Rance on seven, which was just baffling. Surprisingly, Heath Shaw could muster just two votes, as did Daniel Talia and Dean Rampe and Jeremy McGovern.
KANE Lambert was Richmond’s best players in its opening-round win over Carlton with 28 disposals, eight marks and 130 SuperCoach points but the umpires saw it differently, not awarding him any votes.
THEY were the standout pair of the Rising Star but winner Callum Mills and runner-up Caleb Daniel failed to poll a single vote between them. Even Jayden Hunt, who wasn’t even nominated — a “travesty” according to Demons coach Paul Roos — managed to do one better.