‘Set up to fail’: Bombshell report exposes Brownlow Medal farce

The AFL has reportedly denied a request from senior umpires to help them solve most footy fans biggest problem with the Brownlow Medal.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 27: Patrick Cripps of the Blues and AFL Field Umpire, Mathew Nicholls share a discussion during the 2024 AFL Round 07 match between the Geelong Cats and the Carlton Blues at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 27, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The AFL has reportedly denied a request from senior umpires to access stats post-game to aid the submission of Brownlow votes.

Scrutiny was thrown the way of umpires on Monday night, where Carlton superstar Patrick Cripps claimed his second medal in three years – joining an exclusive list of players to win the award multiple times.

Cripps’ tally of 45 votes on the night was far and away the most of any AFL player, surpassing the previous record of 36 by nine votes.

The Blues skipper’s final score was a talking point in itself, but so was the questionable polling (and non-polling) of other players across the night – with the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Noah Anderson finishing with tallies significantly less than predicted by many.

Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph brought the incident to light on Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night, noting that initial request came from senior officials in the industry more than 12 months ago.

“I can reveal tonight that the AFL umpires – their senior leadership group, actually went to the AFL last year and this year and said: ‘We want Champion Data stats; not to poll our votes, but just to instruct us as a safeguard.’” Ralph begun by saying.

“The AFL umpires believe they are nailing the brief (on who to vote for) … but when you’re running 12 kilometres a game, you’re going to make some clangers, you’re going to say that someone like Harrison Petty’s best afield for 13 possessions, which is clearly wrong.

Ralph’s reference was to Petty’s Round 8 outing against Geelong, where the key utility had 13 possessions, nine marks (four contested) and a goal – with the likes of teammate Clayton Oliver (31 disposals) and opponent Zach Guthrie (24 disposals, one goal) not even registering a vote.

Petty kicks during his Round 8 match against Geelong at the MCG (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

“They want to get rid of the howlers, they feel like they’re (being) set up to fail,” Ralph continued.

“Right now, the AFL is saying no – I think they’ll review it at the end of the season again. I think it’s entirely reasonable for the AFL umpires to ask for exactly that.”

“They’re running their butts off, they are umpiring the hardest game in the world to umpire, and we’re adding this layer to them without this safeguard.” Midweek Tackle host Lauren Wood added.

The discussion was preceded by AFL 360’s Gerard Whateley and Mark Robinson only an hour beforehand, with Whateley simply dumbfounded at the idea of gatekeeping stats away from officials.

“Troubleshoot me if I’m wrong here – there is not one logical reason why we shouldn’t give the umpires all the information before they cast their votes,” Whateley said on Tuesday night.

“If this matters as much as it looked like it mattered last night … why on earth would we not let them be privy to all the information before they cast their votes?

“I don’t know … it’s a quirky game footy, and the Brownlow Medal is a quirky award,” Robinson replied.

“We have to trust them, like we trust everybody else – mix what you saw with what’s in front of you.”

Who votes on the three best players on ground has also come under scrutiny in the last 24 hours, with Melbourne winger Lachie Hunter posting on X to voice his concerns over the current system.

Sometimes I walk off the ground and have no idea how my teammates went, why would the umpires be any different?
Cripps a deserving winner but what are we doing….
Quirks in the game like the bounce of the ball shouldn’t include guessing on the games highest individual honour.

— Lachlan Hunter (@lachhunter) September 23, 2024

Other instances of players obscurely not polling at last night’s count include Marcus Bontempelli’s 32-disposal, two-goal display in Round 2 where he polled zero votes - despite being given 10 coaches votes.

And in the same round, the third-placed Zak Butters from Port Adelaide amassed a game-high 34 disposals at an efficiency of 85.3 per cent, 13 score involvements and seven clearances - only to also be snubbed.

Originally published as ‘Set up to fail’: Bombshell report exposes Brownlow Medal farce