The AFL has a credibility problem. The Brownlow Medal is a laughingstock

When my flight touched down in Melbourne early on Tuesday morning and passengers were allowed to switch their phones back on, laughter rippled through the cabin.

As the plane took off from Tokyo the night before, Matt Rowell had been leading the Brownlow after 14 rounds. That Rowell was the eventual winner was not the reason for the laughter – he is an excellent player. It was the voting in the St Kilda-Melbourne game in round 20 that was cause for hilarity.

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. The Saints star took a hanger and kicked two goals in half a minute, having already kicked two goals, had 30 odd touches and nine score involvements, to win his side the game in one of the most thrilling comebacks witnessed in years. If one person decided the outcome of that game it was him. But no. Three votes, Jack Viney.

If one game summed up the absurdity of the Brownlow Medal it was this. If one game alone can finally instigate a change to this award, it should be this.

Those fans on the plane laughed out loud at how ridiculous the AFL made itself look on its most reverentially self-important night. Again.

Those in the room on Brownlow night reported the response was even more incredulous than that on the plane from Japan, with open mockery and players and officials not bothering to hide their laughter at the voting.

That the Brownlow is known for throwing up rogue results because they are voted on by those who are on the field – the umpires – is now irrelevant.

This year’s St Kilda-Melbourne howler comes after Patrick Cripps last year purportedly had the greatest season in the history of football as judged by the umpires. And Nick Daicos the second best. They didn’t. They just polled well.

In this year’s count, Rowell got three votes for 16 touches against Sydney, 10 of which Champion Data concluded were clangers. So best on ground for six effective disposals? Righto.

Against Adelaide in round four, Rowell had 17 touches, eight of which went nowhere. Three votes. Stats aren’t everything, you can be low possessions and big impact like say a Cyril Rioli, but Rowell isn’t that type of player.

Again, Rowell is an excellent player. This column is not to diminish him and in fact it is not about him at all. This is on those who were asked to do the judging.

It has been accepted for two decades now that key forwards, backs and ruckmen are less relevant to Brownlow night than a cummerbund. It is also true they don’t win too many media player-of-the-year awards, but they do at least make the podium at times.

It was once accepted that the Brownlow could and maybe should reward different players than those given awards judged by players, coaches or the media, because the umpires see the game from a different perspective and they have exposure to the players in a way that those outside the boundary do not. When relating to the fairness part of the best and fairest award, that was considered significant

That feels a thin argument now.

The latest Brownlow result points to the fact that those on the ground during the game are so thoroughly preoccupied with the minutiae of other things – like trying to work out which interpretation of incorrect disposal, knocked out in the contest, prior opportunity, dropping the ball, dropping the knees, taking a dive or too high they will choose to apply when a player is tackled – that they don’t have the faintest clue who has influenced the game.

Little secret here, this is not alien to umpires. Talk to assistant coaches after a game and they will often have little clue who was best on ground. Assistant coaches are preoccupied with what they are doing, the line they are coaching and watching the running patterns and movement of players in their zone to be sure of who was doing what up the field. Then again, most would have known Wanganeen-Milera did a bit in that St Kilda-Melbourne game.

The AFL is at pains to tell us it has a problem attracting umpires and keeping them. The abuse from fans and parents at lower levels is dreadful. Setting them up for annual ridicule like this in the Brownlow does nothing to improve the credibility of those who officiate the game.

On the night the AFL congratulates itself with all the grandeur an officially sanctioned gathering of the AFL Commission, like it is a meeting of the UN, it then submits itself to arriving at a result that has people openly mocking the game and its umpires.

What change do you bring in to fix it? A panel of experts meeting weekly to assess each game? An adviser at each game with exposure to the stats? The umpires are still at liberty to say “well, he got 35 touches and kicked a goal, but he was a prick to me all day so I am not giving him votes”. Fine. It is doubtful that happens in every game.

Greg Swann arrived at the AFL to head up football with an agenda of items for change. He now has one more.

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