AFL - All Levels - 350 Words - Reading time 2 minutes
Well deserved Brownlow Medal win this week by Gary Ablett. However, once again the press raise a few eyebrows when they highlight rounds where the umpires seem to have got the voting wrong and start questioning if the umpires should be the ones voting. Of course the umpires should do the voting. You see the Brownlow is awarded to the fairest and best player as voted on by the umpires. So if the umpires don't do the votes - it wouldn't really be the Brownlow.
We already have a multitude of awards that are voted on by others in the sport. There are all the media awards, the players association awards, and the coaches awards. But over the years, it is the Brownlow Medal that has risen enormously in stature - much more than any of these other awards - and I would suggest that is largely due to the fact that the umpires are the exact people who should be voting. This is because they are both impartial and close to the action.
I think it is important to be close to the action. From there, the umpires get a great perspective on the impact of each player. This is often different from the perspective that you get from the stands. It also gives them a good handle on the Fairest scale.
The other element of being impartial is essential - and this is a concept that much of the media fails to understand so we certainly couldn't have them voting on it.
Finally, we often hear the complaint that we only see mid fielders win the medal. The umpires only notice them. To me, this means that they are getting it right. In the modern game, it is the team with the best midfield that invariably wins. They have the biggest impact on the game and are generally the most valuable players. Add to that the fact that teams run most of their players through the midfield and it makes sense that they commonly win the Brownlow Medal and Gary Ablett is a very deserving winner.
