Former Carlton coach Brett Ratten heads Norm Smith Medal voting panel

BRETT Ratten and Mick Malthouse will lock horns tomorrow on the voting panel for the Norm Smith Medal.

BRETT Ratten and Mick Malthouse will lock horns tomorrow on the voting panel for the Norm Smith Medal.

The sacked Carlton coach will chair the voting panel which features five media representatives.

Malthouse is one of those media experts. He will be giving expert comments on his last day as a Seven commentator before taking over as Blues coach - the job held by Ratten until his sacking a month ago.

The other members of the panel are Daily Telegraph writer and former Sydney player Neil Cordy, former Cats defender and K-Rock commentator Tim McGrath and ABC veteran Drew Morphett.

The panel will each cast 3-2-1 votes on the best player in the Grand Final, with the top-rating player awarded the Norm Smith Medal.

Unlike the Brownlow Medal, there is no tie in the Norm Smith. If two or more players are tied on the same number of votes, the medal is decided by a countback based on the most number of three votes, then most number of two votes if the deadlock still can't be broken.

If players still can't be split, the chairman - Ratten - casts the deciding vote.

Saint Jason Gram lost in a countback to Geelong's Paul Chapman in 2009.