I think this was probably more a lesson yet again of apathy in voting. I know there wasn't a week gone by where the Essendon social media team weren't pushing the vote on their various platforms, Dons supporters rode quite the wave this year, whilst I question whether the pies were pushing it that hard and whether many of their fans or footy fans in general really voted.
The good thing for Howe is he takes them so god damn regularly he will take another 3-4 contenders next year and have another crack at it im sure. Best aerialist in the game.