Brownlow votes: just how wrong did the umps get it?

[SimonH]

Everyone says, 'Hey, no fair: only midfielders can win it'. Which is a little like saying that it's not fair that I didn't grow to 192cm with Adam Goodes' build and talent: unfortunate, but that's the way life is and we all just have to live with it.

The issue that's endlessly fascinating is which players they give votes to. A little exercise worth doing is comparing the mere mortal umpires with the gods who do the RWO weekly report. I can say for sure that there's a lot of disagreement there, although the umps did hit some awesome form around rounds 6-8, 10-13 and 16-19.

Round 1. Amon Buchanan, 1 vote. 2nd best in RWO report.
Round 2. Craig Bolton, 3 votes. 7th best in RWO report.
Barry Hall, 2 votes. 2nd best in RWO report.
Jarred Moore, 1 vote. Not in best (8 players!) in RWO report.
Round 3. Adam Goodes, 3 votes. 6th best in RWO report.
Kieren Jack, 2 votes. Not in best (7 players) in RWO report.
Round 4. Tadhg Kennelly, 3 votes. 4th best in RWO report.
Adam Goodes, 2 votes. Not in best (5 players) in RWO report.
Jarrad McVeigh, 1 vote. Not in best in RWO report.
Round 5. Adam Goodes, 2 votes. Not in best (5 players) in RWO report.
Round 6. Adam Goodes, 3 votes. Best player in RWO report.
Round 7. Ryan O'Keefe, 1 vote. Best player in RWO report.
Round 8. Brett Kirk, 3 votes. Best player in RWO report.
Jude Bolton, 2 votes. Not in best (7 players) in RWO report.
Jarred Moore, 1 vote. 3rd best in RWO report.
Michael O'Loughlin: 6 goals, no votes.
Round 9. Adam Goodes, 2 votes. 6th best in RWO report.
Michael O'Loughlin, 1 vote. Not in best (7 players) in RWO report.
Round 10. Adam Goodes, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Ryan O'Keefe, 2 votes. 2nd best in RWO report.
Brett Kirk, 1 vote. Not in best (5 players) in RWO report.
Round 11. Adam Goodes, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Brett Kirk, 1 vote. 2nd best in RWO report.
Round 12. Ryan O'Keefe, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Craig Bolton, 2 votes. Not in best (6 players) in RWO report.
Adam Goodes, 1 vote. 3rd best in RWO report.
Round 13. Brett Kirk, 3 votes. 2nd best in RWO report.
Barry Hall, 2 votes. Best in RWO report.
Round 14. Brett Kirk, 2 votes. 3rd best in RWO report.
Round 15. Brett Kirk, 2 votes. Best in RWO report.
Round 16. Ryan O'Keefe, 3 votes. 2nd best in RWO report.
Darren Jolly, 2 votes. 3rd best in RWO report.
Round 17. Ryan O'Keefe, 1 vote. Best in RWO report.
Round 18. Jarrad McVeigh, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Round 19. Jude Bolton, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Adam Goodes, 2 votes. 2nd best in RWO report.
Round 20. The first time for the year we got no votes at all!
Round 21. Hey, we're really enjoying that 'no votes' thing.
Round 22. Jarred Moore, 3 votes. Best in RWO report.
Patrick Veszpremi, 2 votes. 4th best in RWO report.
Amon Buchanan, 1 vote. 6th best in RWO report.

Actually, the umps weren't too bad, on reflection.

And for the stats nerds vis a vis Vespa: who was the last player to get dropped (albeit only nominally, as it turned out) the week after polling Brownlow votes?

[eggbeater]

Hey Simon, could you please also post which teams we were playing against for each round. Would help to jog some memories.

[AussieAnge]

Wouldn't it be better to compare the Brownlow votes against the TLM?

[AussieAnge]

Everyone says, 'Hey, not fair: only midfielders can win it'. Which is a little like saying that it's not fair that I didn't grow to 192cm with Adam Goodes' build and talent: unfortunate, but that's the way life is and we all just have to live with it.

I don't agree with this comment. It is an award for the "best & fairest player" not the B&F midfielder.

[goswannie14]

I don't agree with this comment. It is an award for the "best & fairest player" not the B&F midfielder.

You need to get the umpires to realise that too.

How many, "non-midfelders" have won it? Not many.

[cruiser]

Thanks for that Simon. It should silence the Goodes knockers.

[AussieAnge]

It should silence the Goodes knockers.

I thought that was Annie's job

[johnno]

Adam Goodes is just a brownlow vote getting machine. He will win a third before his footy career is over.

[#73]

Of course the umps got it wrong.

We spend all year complaining (correctly) about the ineptitude of modern umpires, yet we still hold the Brownlow up as the ultimate player award.

It should come as no surprise that they get it wrong.....THEY'RE UMPIRES!!!

[NMWBloods]

According to the OP Goodes picked up 7 votes he possibly shouldn't have.

[C-Train]

I didn't realise that ranga's were eligable for the brownlow anyway?

[ugg]

How did Jack get votes in Round 3? 11 possessions, 50 Champion Data ranking points. Hardly earth-shattering.

[Claret]

How did Jack get votes in Round 3? 11 possessions, 50 Champion Data ranking points. Hardly earth-shattering.

Keeping Luke Power to 4 kicks and 5 handballs is a pretty fair effort, particularly considering he had 51 possessions over the previous two weeks.

[ugg]

Keeping Luke Power to 4 kicks and 5 handballs is a pretty fair effort, particularly considering he had 51 possessions over the previous two weeks.

Fair enough. But it usually isn't the sort of game that umpires vote for. Just found it strange.

[Claret]

Fair enough. But it usually isn't the sort of game that umpires vote for. Just found it strange.

I agree that it's usually not the sort of game that the umps vote for. Not sure if this is a good thing?

I think as of last season the umpires were given access to the stats before submitting their votes - this probably highlights the job of taggers a little more.