Coaches Mark Thompson and Rodney Eade awarded Ablett a total of six votes, giving him a seven-point lead in the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year – the only award voted for by the coaches themselves.
Right behind Ablett on the overall leaderboard is teammate Steve Johnson. The 2007 Norm Smith Medallist picked up another four votes in Indigenous Round to move clear of Nick Dal Santo, who was not among nine players to receive votes from the Saints’ comeback win over the Lions on Sunday.
The spread of votes in that Docklands match means coaches Ross Lyon and Michael Voss agreed on just one player – Lenny Hayes, who received four votes from one coach and three from another.
At Docklands on Friday, Bulldog Jason Akermanis took best on ground honours in his 300th game, picking up nine votes. Demon Colin Sylvia was also judged best in a losing side, while Collingwood’s Leon Davis and Essendon’s Jason Winderlich were the only players in round nine to win maximum votes.
In the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year, 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).
ROUND NINE VOTING
Geelong v Western Bulldogs
9 Akermanis (WB)
6 Selwood (Geel)
6 Ablett (Geel)
4 S Johnson (Geel)
4 Johnson (WB)
1 Boyd (WB)
North Melbourne v Fremantle
8 Hale (NM)
6 Gibson (NM)
5 Rawlings (NM)
4 Haselby (Frem)
3 Wells (NM)
2 Petrie (NM)
1 Pavlich (Frem)
1 Ibbotson (Frem)
Adelaide v Carlton
9 Goodwin (Adel)
9 Doughty (Adel)
5 Knights (Adel)
3 Mackay (Adel)
2 Edwards (Adel)
1 Douglas (Adel)
1 Thompson (Adel)
West Coast v Collingwood
10 Davis (Coll)
4 O'Bree (Coll)
4 Swan (Coll)
4 Pendlebury (Coll)
3 Embley (WCE)
2 Wood (Coll)
2 Lockyer (Coll)
1 Maxwell (Coll)
Richmond v Essendon
10 Winderlich (Ess)
7 Watson (Ess)
4 Ryder (Ess)
4 Foley (Rich)
3 Jackson (Rich)
1 Zaharakis (Ess)
1 Dempsey (Ess)
Sydney Swans v Port Adelaide
7 McVeigh (Syd)
7 Kirk (Syd)
7 J Bolton (Syd)
5 Jack (Syd)
2 Hall (Syd)
1 R O'Keefe (Syd)
1 Jolly (Syd)
St Kilda v Brisbane Lions
7 Hayes (St K)
5 Ball (St K)
5 Montagna (St K)
4 Brennan (Bris)
3 Adcock (Bris)
2 Drummond (Bris)
2 Sherman (Bris)
1 S Gilbert (St K)
1 Koschitzke (St K)
Hawthorn v Melbourne
9 Sylvia (Melb)
6 Lewis (Haw)
5 Muston (Haw)
3 Franklin (Haw)
3 Mitchell (Haw)
2 Bateman (Haw)
2 Sewell (Haw)
LEADERBOARD
49 Gary Ablett (Geel)
42 Steve Johnson (Geel)
38 Nick Dal Santo (St K)
38 Chris Judd (Carl)
38 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
37 Nick Riewoldt (St K)
32 Matthew Boyd (WB)
32 Paul Chapman (Geel)
31 Warren Tredrea (PA)
29 Jason Akermanis (WB)
29 Aaron Davey (Melb)
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
