Captain Nick Riewoldt's five-goal game against Carlton earned him nine votes, taking him to 54 and outright third in the only award voted on by the coaches themselves.
He is now just one vote behind Chris Judd (55), who is four shy of leader Gary Ablett on 59 votes. Ablett plays this weekend against Fremantle in Perth.
The rest of the leaderboard is dominated by St Kilda stars on the back of their record-breaking start to the season.
Lenny Hayes grabbed six votes for another tough display against the Blues to join Geelong's Steve Johnson in equal fourth.
Teammate Leigh Montagna polled seven votes to join another Saint, Nick Dal Santo, in 6th spot.
That means there are four St Kilda players in the top seven.
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 Ablett (2007-08), Simon Goodwin and Adam Goodes (joint winners in 2006), Barry Hall (2005) and Warren Tredrea (2004).
Just five matches were played in the first half of the split round with the Brisbane Lions the only 'away' side to taste victory.
And they were led superbly by skipper Jonathan Brown down at Launceston in their shock win over 2008 premier Hawthorn. Brown booted five goals and earned nine votes from the coaches at the game, Michael Voss and Alastair Clarkson.
Riewoldt was the only other man to poll nine at the weekend with seven-vote performances coming thick and fast at the other games.
Daniel Cross, Adam Cooney and Ryan Hargrave all got seven votes in the Dogs' demolition of Port Adelaide in Darwin.
In Adelaide, Crows Michael Doughty and Scott Thompson were awarded seven votes after they beat North Melbourne, while Richmond duo Richard Tambling and Mitch Morton got seven each in the Tigers' win over the Eagles.
ROUND 12 VOTING
Carlton v St Kilda
9 Riewoldt (St K)
7 Montagna (St K)
6 Hayes (St K)
4 Simpson (Carl)
4 Gibbs (Carl)
Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide
7 Cross (WB)
7 Cooney (WB)
7 Hargrave (WB)
5 Hill (WB)
2 Harbrow (WB)
1 Picken (WB)
1 Minson (WB)
Richmond v West Coast
7 Tambling (Rich)
7 Morton (Rich)
5 Polo (Rich)
4 Jackson (Rich)
4 Priddis (WCE)
2 Tuck (Rich)
1 Wirrpanda (WCE)
Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions
9 Brown (Bris)
7 Power (Bris)
7 Brennan (Bris)
4 Black (Bris)
2 Sherman (Bris)
1 Clark (Bris)
Adelaide v North Melbourne
7 Doughty (Adel)
7 Thompson (Adel)
6 Porplyzia (Adel)
4 Otten (Adel)
3 Mackay (Adel)
2 Symes (Adel)
1 Vince (Adel)
LEADERBOARD
59 Gary Ablett (Geel)
55 Chris Judd (Carl)
54 Nick Riewoldt (St K)
52 Lenny Hayes (St K)
52 Steve Johnson (Geel)
44 Nick Dal Santo (St K)
44 Leigh Montagna (St K)
39 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
37 Paul Chapman (Geel)
36 Matthew Boyd (WB)
36 Jonathan Brown (Bris)
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
