While Gary Ablett romps on, two club captains bolt into contention for the coaches' Champion Player of the Year
CLUB captains Sam Mitchell and Nick Riewoldt have bolted into contention for the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year, polling well in their side’s impressive wins in round five.
But the story of the 2009 season so far continues to be Gary Ablett. The Cat superstar collected another maximum 10 votes at Skilled Stadium on Sunday, taking him to a whopping 43 votes of a possible 50 so far.
Ablett is 11 votes clear of nearest rival Nick Dal Santo, who failed to poll in St Kilda’s huge win in Adelaide on Friday night.
Mitchell picked up eight votes for his outing against the Eagles, which included eight marks and 40 disposals – catapulting him into fifth spot on the leaderboard.
Riewoldt saw less of the ball but inflicted even greater damage on the Power, grabbing 10 marks and kicking 4.1. His eight votes from coaches Ross Lyon and Mark Williams leave him sixth overall on 20 votes.
Neither Riewoldt nor Mitchell won best on ground honours in their matches, with Brad Sewell and Lenny Hayes (both nine votes) catching the coaches’ respective eyes. Simon Goodwin contributed another captain’s game, taking a maximum 10 votes for his performance against Melbourne at the MCG.
In the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year – the only award voted for by the coaches themselves – coaches vote each week on a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis. Coaches vote only on their own matches, but may vote for players on the opposing team.
Past winners of the prestigious award include Gary Ablett Jr (2007-08), Simon Goodwin and Adam Goodes (joint winners in 2006), Barry Hall (2005) and Warren Tredrea (2004).
