IN THE tug-of-war between Carlton's Chris Judd and Geelong's Gary Ablett, the superstar Cat has reclaimed the lead in the AFLCA Crown Champion Player of the Year award, after the Carlton captain failed to poll in his team's demoralising loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.

The fitness of the pair has added another level of intrigue to this race and Judd, who pulled up sore after the game, is expected to miss this coming week, while rumours were rife about Ablett's fitness prior to Geelong's thrilling encounter against Hawthorn on the weekend.

Ablett managed to poll three votes in Geelong's one-point win, with the maximum 10 votes going to another Geelong midfielder, young gun Joel Selwood.

Their teammate Paul Chapman slipped from fourth to sixth on the leaderboard, falling behind Brisbane Lions' sensational skipper Jonathan Brown and St Kilda twinkle-toes Nick Dal Santo.

Brown scored the maximum ten votes and slotted into fourth spot after an inspirational performance against North Melbourne where he booted eight goals.

Dal Santo also edged ahead of Chapman after claiming four votes in his team's 45-point demoltion of the Western Bulldogs.

At the pointy end of the table, Dal Santo's skipper Nick Riewoldt closed in on the leaders with a five-vote game against the Dogs, just seven votes in arrears of Judd.

Veteran Leny Hayes continues to poll after he collected more than 20 touches in a half against the Dogs and Collingwood ball-magnet Dane Swan racked up seven votes to take him to eighth on the leaderboard, moving ahead of St Kilda's Leigh Montagna and Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell.

Other players to impress on the weekend were ruckmen Aaron Sandilands (10 votes) and Darren Jolly (9 votes), Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt (10 votes) and Adelaide defender Nathan Bock (9 votes).

In the AFL Coaches Association Crown 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).

ROUND 17 VOTES

Carlton v Collingwood
9 Heath Shaw (Coll)
7 Dane Swan (Coll)
4 Nick Maxwell (Coll)
3 Leon Davis (Coll)
3 Marc Murphy (Carl)
2 Dale Thomas (Coll)
1 Ben Johnson (Coll)
1 Scott Pendlebury (Coll)

Geelong v Hawthorn
10 Joel Selwood (Geel)
6 Lance Franklin (Haw)
5 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
3 Brad Sewell (Haw)
3 Cameron Ling (Geel)
3 Gary Ablett (Geel)

Fremantle v West Coast
10 Aaron Sandilands (Frem)
7 Matthew Pavlich (Frem)
4 Greg Broughton (Frem)
3 Paul Hasleby (Frem)
2 Andrew Embley (WCE)
2 Darren Glass (WCE)
2 Tim Houlihan (WCE)

Brisbane v North Melbourne
10 Jonathan brown (Bris)
5 Simon Black (Bris)
4 Mitch Clark (Bris)
4 Josh Drummond (Bris)
3 Brady Rawlings (NM)
2 Daniel Merrett (Bris)
1 Luke Power (Bris)
1 Corey Jones (NM)

St Kilda v Western Bulldogs
9 Brendon Goddard (St K)
5 Nick Riewoldt (St K)
4 Lenny Hayes (St K)
4 Nick Dal Santo (St K)
4 Matthew Boyd (WB)
3 Sam Gilbert (St K)
1 Stephen Milne (St K)

Melbourne v Sydney Swans
9 Darren Jolly (Syd)
9 Jarred McVeigh (Syd)
3 Ryan O'Keefe (Syd)
3 Heath Grundy (Syd)
3 Brent Moloney (Mel)
2 Jude Bolton (Syd)
1 Aaron Davey

Essendon v Richmond
10 Jack Riewoldt (Rich)
8 Brett Deledio (Rich)
5 Ben Cousins (Rich)
4 Trent Cotchin (Rich)
2 Brent Stanton (Ess)
1 Henry Slattery (Ess)

Adelaide v Port Adelaide
9 Nathan Bock (Adel)
5 Brent Reilly (Adel)
4 Kurt Tippett (Adel)
4 Simon Goodwin (Adel)
4 Andrew McLeod (Adel)
3 Graham Johncock (Adel)
1 Robbie Gray (Port)

LEADERBOARD
80 Gary Ablett (Geel)
79 Chris Judd (Carl)
72 Nick Riewoldt (St K)
68 Jonathan Brown (Bris)
64 Nick Dal Santo (St K)
63 Paul Chapman (Geel)
62 Lenny Hayes (St K)
60 Dane Swan (Coll)
58 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
53 Leigh Montagna (St K)

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.