St Kilda champion Neil Roberts says AFL must ignore calls to remove ‘fairest’ element to Brownlow Medal

ST KILDA champion Neil Roberts says he would hand back his 1958 Brownlow Medal if the AFL heeded calls to remove the “fairest” element in the wake of Patrick Dangerfield’s ban. HAVE YOUR SAY

Neil Roberts says he would hand back his Brownlow if the AFL removed the “fairest” element from the winning criteria.

ST KILDA champion Neil Roberts says he will hand back his 1958 Brownlow Medal if the league removed the “fairest” element from football’s top individual award.

The AFL Hall of Fame member said it would be an insult to previous winners and send a worrying message to junior players if the league “flushed down the drain” 90 years of tradition.

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“I would hand mine back if they took the word ‘fairest’ out of the citation,” Roberts told the Herald Sun.

“I stand by that. There would be no point having it.”

There has been a strong push to overhaul the Brownlow Medal criteria due to increased video scrutiny of the game’s stars and the chance of losing the medal over a minor indiscretion.

Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield is ineligible to win back to back Brownlow Medals after accepting a one-week suspension for his tackle on Carlton’s Matthew Kreuzer.

Neil Roberts celebrates after receiving his Brownlow Medal at the MCG.

Neil Roberts says he would hand back his Brownlow if the AFL removed the “fairest” element from the winning criteria.

Dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey threw his support behind the move to eliminate the fairest criteria on Monday, declaring “it’s time now you just make it (Brownlow) for the best player”.

Roberts, 84, said he felt empathy for Dangerfield, along with other ineligible “winners” Chris Grant and Corey McKernan.

But he was adamant football chiefs must retain the purity and tradition of the award, saying a major change to the criteria was “unthinkable and intolerable”.

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“I understand that it is very easy to break a rule now and then, particularly in today’s football,” Roberts said.

“It’s very vigorous, very demanding and very fast and there is a lot of manpower in it because it is a tackling game now.

“But you have got to retain the fairness part of it because it is an insult to the past champions otherwise.

“There has been too much tradition gone down the drain with the passing of generations and I think not everything in the old world was bad.

“They have to retain this great wealth and richness to the history of the game because in my view the Brownlow is still the most sought-after (individual award), so why change it?”

Despite the push to change the criteria, the move appears set to fall on deaf ears, with the AFL on Tuesday confirming it had no plans to review the Brownlow system.

“We haven’t had any discussions about the Brownlow Medal criteria,” spokesman Patrick Keane said.

Patrick Dangerfield is now ineligible to win this year’s award after a dangerous tackle on Matthew Kreuzer.

A former St Kilda captain, Roberts said he had spoken with the families of Charles Brownlow and the inaugural winner Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves, who supported his stance on retaining the fairest criteria.

“I have written letters with them pleading to keep it,” Roberts said.

“It is a sacred thing in football and it should never be violated.

“If you remove the fairest criteria you open the gates to violence and the carry-through to junior level is unacceptable.

“You have to retain the fairness aspect otherwise it could become a cruel business instead of a sport.”