It's interesting, apparently more players polled in losing teams in this years Brownlow than ever before, apparently the trend about polling if you win is only a very recent trend. Maybe they mean the AFL era. The report sounded to me like a disgruntled punter.
Before the two or more umpires it was quite common for players to poll well in losing sides. This seems to be confirmed by my memory, guys like Skilton, Harvey, Stewart, Bedford or Murray it was pretty common for lowly VFL teams to claim the Brownlow. Then the AFL era changed it, and teams had to be winning before a player had a chance. But it feels to me like it was the AFL era that was delivering the artificial results, not the past.
I was chatting with a guy at the weekend who is connected with umpire development, he made an interesting comment about the pending changes and the long term trends. He said the AFL have worked out that the best umpires are not always AFL capable, not because of the decision making but because they are physically unable to keep up with play. He said this is a big driving force in the pending changes towards more umpires. You'll basically have a panel of top class umpires capable of officiating multiple games each and every weekend. I'm sure that will change the Brownlow voting as well.
Before the two or more umpires it was quite common for players to poll well in losing sides. This seems to be confirmed by my memory, guys like Skilton, Harvey, Stewart, Bedford or Murray it was pretty common for lowly VFL teams to claim the Brownlow. Then the AFL era changed it, and teams had to be winning before a player had a chance. But it feels to me like it was the AFL era that was delivering the artificial results, not the past.
I was chatting with a guy at the weekend who is connected with umpire development, he made an interesting comment about the pending changes and the long term trends. He said the AFL have worked out that the best umpires are not always AFL capable, not because of the decision making but because they are physically unable to keep up with play. He said this is a big driving force in the pending changes towards more umpires. You'll basically have a panel of top class umpires capable of officiating multiple games each and every weekend. I'm sure that will change the Brownlow voting as well.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"