Grand final Norm Smith Medal voting panel locked in for 2023 decider

Eddie McGuire raised eyebrows this week with his comments on who should and who shouldn’t vote on the Norm Smith Medal. Will he be pleased with the 2023 panel?

The AFL has confirmed the Norm Smith medal voting panel for Saturday’s grand final with former Western Bulldogs player-turned-commentator Luke Darcy to head up one of the highest-pressure jobs in the game.

Darcy will act as chair of the voting panel, which is comprised of triple All-Australian Eddie Betts, premiership-winning former Swan Jude Bolton, AFL journalist Sarah Olle and 2018 Norm Smith winner and retiring West Coast skipper Luke Shuey.

All voters will be canvassed in the dying minutes of the game and provide a 3-2-1 ranking for who they believe has been the best player on the ground, with the votes of the chairperson – Darcy – used to break the deadlock in the case of a tie.

Betts played 350 AFL games – 132 at Adelaide and 218 over two stints at Carlton – and played in the 2017 grand final against Richmond.

Bolton claimed two premierships in his 325-game career at Sydney, while Olle has worked as a journalist and broadcaster at Fox Footy before her current roles at the AFL website and SEN.

Luke Darcy will chair the Norm Smith Medal voting panel. Picture: David Crosling

Shuey, 33, announced his retirement from AFL just weeks ago and jetted to Melbourne this week. He will be part of the farewell motorcade before the game before turning his hand to the votes.

Under AFL integrity rules surrounding medal voting, the panel is not permitted to consult with others in relation to voting.

Collingwood midfielder Nick Daicos is currently considered favourite with bookmaker TAB at $5, followed by teammate Jordan De Goey and Brownlow medallist Lion Lachie Neale at $7.

But the real question surrounding the panel remains – does it have former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire’s approval?

McGuire’s comments surrounding the make-up of voting panels raised eyebrows within the industry this week, after he proposed a “panel of elders” determine the victors of key awards such as the Norm Smith instead of panels which feature members of the media.

Jude Bolton is on the Norm Smith voting panel. Picture: Michael Klein

“We’re now getting people voting on the Anzac Day Medal who are people in the media that I’ve never heard of,” he said on the Eddie and Jimmy podcast alongside 2011 Norm Smith and 2007 Brownlow winner Jimmy Bartel.

“We have to make sure that we’ve got a woman and we’ve got this and that.

“We’ve got women footballers now, OK, we can get them and we can put together a really good panel to select the Anzac Day Medal.

“I think we’re just narrowing in too much, and I wouldn’t have the media necessarily in any of these and I’m a media person.”

Originally published as Grand final Norm Smith Medal voting panel locked in for 2023 decider