Retired Simon Black (1997-2013)

[Kochie 16]

Re: Simon Black

Very good performance from one of the best midfielers in the comp!

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

The best player you hardly know
Michael Voss
May 27, 2007

SIMON Black is the lowest profile high-profile player I've seen. He's a Brownlow medallist, Norm Smith medallist, triple premiership player, triple All-Australian, triple club champion and club co-captain. And as of last night he's a 200-gamer.
He's the most decorated player among 700-odd presently in the AFL. But what do you really know about the left-footed midfield maestro of the Brisbane Lions? I'm guessing not too much.
It's not because he shuns the spotlight or is a particularly private person. It's just the way it has worked out. Through the golden era of the Lions, there were others who assumed a greater public presence.
He first arrived in Brisbane a shy 71-kilogram kid from WA, taken at No. 32 in the 1997 draft — a number that must embarrass a few recruiting types.
The top 10 that year was pretty hot: Travis Johnstone, Brad Ottens, Trent Croad, Mark Bolton, Luke Power, James Walker, Kris Massie, Chris Tarrant, Chad Cornes and Shane O'Bree. But of those between 11 and 31, only Jason Saddington, Shannon Watt, Dean Solomon, Troy Longmuir, Nick Stevens, Brodie Holland and Rowan Jones are still playing AFL football.
Apparently there were some concerns among the scouts about Blacky's lack of pace. But he's got other attributes. Like his strength over the ball and his ability to win the contested possession. To hold his feet and use the ball well with hand and foot on both sides of his body. His decision making. His football smarts. His insatiable appetite to compete and will power to match.
Black runs as quickly in the last 10 minutes of a game as he does in the first 10 minutes. So his lack of pure leg speed is a non-factor. He would have been a good marathon runner or a cyclist. Because he plays football the same way. He surges. He challenges his opponent. And just when the man given the unenviable task of trying to keep him in check might be starting to feel a little comfortable, he'll lift his work-rate. And he'll blow his opponent away.
In round two at the Gabba this year, a noted St Kilda tagger had the job on Blacky. Five minutes into the second half he cramped up. He just couldn't go with him. That's his modus operandi. Watch him. He'll grind his opponent into the ground. He'll test him mentally and physically. Contest after contest.
Remember the 2003 grand final against Collingwood? He had 39 possessions on the biggest stage of all, and was still running just as hard in the last 60 seconds. It was as good a big-occasion game as you'll see.

 

[danielcan]

Re: Simon Black

And the rest

The two words that best describe Simon Black are humble and competitive. He is a totally unaffected champion. A level-headed, modest, polite, consistent and considerate 28-year-old from a fantastic family.

One day a few years ago he went to the children's hospital. A nurse was bemoaning the fact that they didn't have a PlayStation for the kids. So Blacky went home, got his own, and gave it to the hospital.

But there's another side of Blacky that only those on the inside really see. He's a fierce competitor. He's always been like that.

Even in his first year he was an annoying pest who was forever asking Craig Lambert and yours truly to do extra one-on-one stuff. It was bordering on harassment.

He was always looking for ways to improve himself because he had an unbelievable desire for success. If a teammate does 15 rounds of boxing, and he's next, he'll do 16. If a teammate does 20 repetitions in the gym eight times, he'll do nine. I loved training with him and trying to beat him. To keep up with him. He tested me in so many areas, and maybe I tested him in other areas. It's a great way to better yourself.

He's an out-and-out mozzie. Always buzzing around. Forgetting things. Having a chat and a laugh. He's always got as much time for the shy new recruit and the boot-studder as anyone else. Everyone is equal to him.

A share of the captaincy this year has taken him to another level. With more responsibility than just getting the ball 30 times a week he's become a real leader. Taking control. Talking to his teammates. Demanding more from them. Offering suggestions.

It makes him an even more valuable player than his extraordinary record commands. And he'll reach 300 games because he's always looking for a new challenge.

But he's not perfect — he's not the greatest driver, for example. One day I was walking out of the Gabba and I heard a voice yell out "hey Vossy!" I looked over just in time to see him run into the car in front of him.

Another day we were using the inferential machine together. That's the one where you stick pads all over the troubled area and you get this pulsating sensation. He had sore ribs and didn't think it was doing its job so he turned it up. And up. And up. Before realising it wasn't plugged in.

As soon as he plugged it in. Whammo! He nearly hit the roof. Didn't think to turn it down, did he? He forgot about his ribs pretty quickly. Not a great medical practitioner.

And he can be a little vague. One day in Perth we were doing an interview with Brad Hardie. Brad asked him a question and he went blank. No answer. He hadn't been listening. His mind was probably off riding the perfect wave somewhere. If you asked him his favourite moments, the time he went surfing with Kelly Slater would be among them.

Punctuality! That's not one of his great strengths either. If the club was buying him a 200th game present it'd be a good watch with a reminder zapper every five minutes.

But if you were a young midfielder starting out in AFL and could go to the shops and buy a football role model you'd find it hard to walk past the Simon Black section.

A good football club builds itself around good people like Blacky. And of all those I had the privilege to play alongside, he sits comfortably alongside all of them for the company I enjoyed and whose professionalism and performance I admired.

 

[danielcan]

Re: Simon Black

He may have avoided suspension but Brownlow Medallist Simon Black may still miss a resurgent Brisbane Lions' AFL clash against Carlton at the Gabba on Sunday due to a knee injury.

Black will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness after hyperextending his knee in the third quarter of Brisbane's 44-point thumping of Melbourne last weekend - the Lions' second straight victory.

Black was breathing easy after learning he could escape with a reprimand for striking Melbourne's Simon Godfrey during the second quarter in a clash assessed by the AFL match review panel as high, negligent and of low impact.

But that was the least of his worries when the Lions today booked him for knee scans.

Lions coach Leigh Matthews tried to hose down concern about Black last Saturday night, saying he removed the co-captain from the field in the final 10 minutes because he was taking a "safety first" approach.

However, Matthews changed his tune today when he sighted Black's swollen knee.

"He's in some doubt. He doesn't look like he's done any structural damage but whatever he did sort of jarred it and it got puffy after the game," Matthews said.

"It's still swollen this morning. It's just a question of how quickly the swelling goes down.

"He doesn't seem to have done any structural damage but it's puffed up a little bit."

Matthews said Black would undergo scans this week but still kept his fingers crossed the class midfielder would run out against the Blues.

"It's just an inflammation, sort of swelling that has to subside. If need be we'll give him until Saturday," he said.

Besides Black, the form of young forward Mitch Clark has posed another selection headache for Matthews.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/new...daches-at-lions/2007/07/16/1184559695535.html

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Black protects Brownlow hopes


Article from:

Marco Monteverde
July 17, 2007 12:00am

AN early plea would ensure Simon Black remains eligible to win this year's Brownlow Medal after the Brisbane Lions co-captain was charged with striking.
Lions chief executive Michael Bowers last night said the club "would sleep on it" before deciding whether Black would fight the charge of striking Melbourne defender Simon Godfrey, which resulted from a second-quarter incident in the Lions' comfortable 44-point win over the Demons at the Gabba on Saturday night. The strike was assessed as negligent conduct, low-impact and high-contact, with Black's record of being suspended for three matches within the past three years increasing the penalty to 104 points and a one-match ban.
But an early plea would allow the 2002 Brownlow Medallist to escape with a reprimand and the addition of 78 points to his future record.
This would allow Black to take on Carlton at the Gabba on Sunday, provided he has overcome a knee injury.
Lions coach Leigh Matthew yesterday said the champion on-baller would be given until match-day to prove his fitness.
"It doesn't look like he's done any structural damage but, whatever he did, it got puffy after the game and it's still swollen this morning," Matthews said.
"It's just a question of how quickly the swelling goes down."
Asked if Black would be given a fitness deadline, Matthews replied: "As long as he's OK by Sunday, he'll be OK (to play)."
Black has been instrumental in Brisbane's recent revival and his absence would hurt a Lions side keen to keep its faint top-eight hopes alive.

Link

Star midfielder Simon Black is under an injury cloud for this Sunday's NAB Cup final rematch with Carlton at the Gabba.

Black finished the 44-point defeat of the Demons over the weekend on the bench after an awkward clash with Melbourne tagger Simon Godfrey in the second half.

However, with Brisbane's finals aspirations hanging by a thread despite successive victories, the former Brownlow Medallist is not expected to be out of action for multiple weeks.

"He doesn't look like he's done any structural damage but he's jarred it and it got puffy after the game," Matthews told reporters on Monday.

"It's still swollen this morning so it's just a question of how quickly the swelling goes down."
Click here to find out more!

"He's in some doubt."

"If need be you'd certainly give him until Saturday," he added.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Re: Simon Black

Black has taken the points and accepted the reprimand.

 

[notting18]

Re: Simon Black

Black has taken the points and accepted the reprimand.

Probably what we all expected him to do - Hopefully it is promising for his knee though!

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

This will be just the 5th game Black has missed in the last 7 seasons.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

Re: Will Black be back this week?

There's no open training session until Tuesday, so none of us will have a clear indication until then. I'd be betting yes.

 

[Kochie 16]

Re: Will Black be back this week?

Back in this week! Scared the living daylights outa me when his knee hyper extended!

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Just to give you an idea of how dominant Simon Black is, these were the stats they flashed up half way through the final quarter:

Clearances:

Black 12
O'Bree 4
Lappin 4
Fraser 3
Charman 3

Contested Possessions:

Black 17
McGrath 8
Brown 8
Licuria 8
Adcock 7

 

[Kochie 16]

Re: Simon Black

Just to give you an idea of how dominant Simon Black is, these were the stats they flashed up half way through the final quarter:

Clearances:

Black 12
O'Bree 4
Lappin 4
Fraser 3
Charman 3

Contested Possessions:

Black 17
McGrath 8
Brown 8
Licuria 8
Adcock 7

Wow, Blacky sure did kick some arse!

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Another milestone for Black

Andrew Hamilton
August 07, 2007 12:00am

SIMON Black routinely breaks new ground. He has already set the mark for most possessions by a Lions player and holds the club's beep-test record.
Now he owns another record – his 14 tackles against the Kangaroos last Saturday equalled Nigel Lappin's effort against the Hawks in round 20, 2004. When it was put to Black that he should be playing lock for the Broncos after a tackling effort like that, he was quick to overrule in favour of the five-eighth spot.
Black is first and foremost a ballplayer who wants the pigskin in his hands as often as possible.
When a player becomes so adept at winning the footy, opposing tacticians spend hours devising ways to stop him.
It's called tagging and Black gets it more than most.
He hasn't put quite as much thought into his strategy as his opponents do, but Black has come up with a novel approach against the tag – tackle his heart out.
He hunts opponents like a Lion and where possible slams them into the turf.
"Early in my career I tackled a bit more but I dropped away a bit," he said.
"It's rewarding when you're not getting your hands on it to walk off knowing you've contributed. In our premiership years we were very good – we gang-tackled.
"It puts perceived pressure on the opposition. When they get the footy they may have more time than they think. It is a real mental thing as much as anything else."
Black's 14 tackles are just one shy of the AFL benchmark of 15, reached four times since official records have been kept.
His possession count was down on Saturday night. His 17 were well short of his career-high 39 against Collingwood in the 2003 grand final.
But tellingly he won nine contested possessions, his tackling pressure contributing to spilt ball that led to touches for him and his teammates.

DOWN you go ... record-equalling Brisbane Lion Simon Black tackles the Kangaroos' Jesse Smith.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Simon Black's bad deal

Article from:
Andrew Hamilton
September 06, 2007 12:00am

LIONS coach Leigh Matthews has questioned Simon Black's absence from the All-Australian shortlist, saying more credit should be given to ball winners who cop heavy tags each week.
West Coast premiership skipper Chris Judd and reigning Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes also failed to earn selection in the preliminary 40-man squad.
Matthews said more focus should be placed on the players' role within the team and how highly they were rated by oppositions, who generally sent a player out with the sole role of trying to contain them.
"I'm talking about the principle of degree of difficulty in the midfield role. I'm not sure that's taken into account," Matthews said.
"Sometimes you have to work out the degree of difficulty because it is much more difficult in the midfield if you are getting those close checking tags than it is for other midfielders who can play with more freedom.
"It is a difficult task because no selector can see every game every week, but all I know is the opposition rate Simon Black the highest because he is the one who gets tagged."
The nominees, grouped for the first time this year as forwards, defenders and midfielders or ruckmen, included nine players from premiership favourites Geelong.
The final 22 will be announced on September 17 and will include six members of each group, as well as four interchange players taken from any of the three groups.
Judd, a former Brownlow and Norm Smith medallist, was a clear favourite to win this season's Brownlow medal at the halfway mark of the season.
But a groin complaint restricted him to seven of the past 11 games and kept him below his best, preventing him from earning a nomination from the six-member selection panel.
Goodes, a dual Brownlow medallist, had a slow start to the season but has been in devastating form for the Swans in the second half of the season and is a key reason for Sydney's form surge.
Black has also had a very good year.
Although he is tagged heavily every week and has had some games where his production has been down, he still produced enough stand-out displays to be in contention for the Lions' best and fairest award and should again poll well in the Brownlow medal.
The Lions' round one game against Hawthorn, the two outings against Collingwood and the upset over West Coast at Subiaco were best-on-ground efforts.
A case can also be made for the clash with Fremantle and the round two clash with St Kilda.
Only Jonathan Brown's 10-goal haul would stop him getting top votes for his game against Carlton at the Gabba.

Black is currently 13th in Brownlow betting.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

AFLPA MVP award nominations
1:20 PM Wed 19 September, 2007
for lions.com.au

Lions co-captain Simon Black and Jonathan Brown have been nominated by their team mates as worthy to be considered to receive one of AFL football's most prestigious awards - the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player.
The award was named in honour of playing and coaching great Leigh Matthews as is designed to reward to player acknowledged by AFL players to have displayed leadership, versatility, ability to play under pressure, skill and courage, respect for all players and overall value to a team. Black and Brown were the Lions representatives, as each club nominated two players from within.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Lions Brownlow Medal preview
10:20 AM Thu 20 September, 2007
for lions.com.au

... the Lions’ other fancy Simon Black, whose first two-thirds of the season was outstanding, finished just outside the top 10 in the Herald Sun award.

At least Black is right under the umpires’ noses in the midfield, and has already won one medal.

He was the third player in history wearing No.20 to win the Brownlow, the others being the very first winner of the award – Edward ‘Carji’ Reeves – in 1924, and South Melbourne’s Graham Teasdale in 1977.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Equal 2nd in the Brownlow with 22 votes.

 

[notting18]

Re: Simon Black

Equal 2nd in the Brownlow with 22 votes.

A suprising vote winner for the lions! Well done Blacky

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

It was his 2nd highest tally:

2002 - 25 votes (winner)
2007 - 22 votes (equal 2nd)
2004 - 18 votes
2001 - 12 votes
2003 - 12 votes
2006 - 11 votes
2005 - 6 votes
2000 - 4 votes

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

A Brownlow bolt from the Black
10:02 AM Tue 25 September, 2007
for lions.com.au

Lions co-captain Simon Black may have been shunned by the All Australian selectors this season, but his efforts certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the umpires at the 2007 Brownlow Medal count last night.

Black, who was a surprise omission from the initial 40-man All Australian squad that was announced earlier this month, finished equal second in the competition’s highest individual honour behind eventual winner Jimmy Bartel from Geelong.

Bartel finished a runaway winner with 29 votes ahead of fellow midfielders Black, the Kangaroos’ Brent Harvey and West Coast’s Daniel Kerr who finished on 22.

Prior to the count, Black was considered only an outside chance of replicating his 2002 feat and taking home the Brownlow Medal. Betting agencies listed him as a rank outsider despite the fact he had firmed into equal favouritism for the honour in the middle stages of the season.

When Black received his sixth best-on-field honours against Melbourne in Round 15, he took a commanding three vote lead and looked every chance to cause an upset. However, Bartel stormed home amassing 12 votes in the next five rounds to take an unassailable seven vote lead with two rounds remaining.

Black, who turned 28 earlier this year, took his career tally of Brownlow Medal votes to 119 passing the likes of former winners Gavin Wanganeen (109), Paul Kelly (103) and Tony Liberatore (112).

His 22 votes in this years count was also the best performance by a Lions player at the Brownlow since Black himself won the Medal back in 2002 with 25 votes.

The final Brownlow Medal voting tally was as follows:

29: Jimmy Bartel (Geelong)
22: Simon Black (Brisbane Lions)
22: Brent Harvey (Kangaroos)
22: Daniel Kerr (West Coast)*
21: Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
20: Gary Ablett (Geelong)
20: Dane Swan (Collingwood)
20: Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans)
18: Scott Thompson (Adelaide)
17: Jonathan Brown (Brisbane Lions)

*ineligible

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Seven days in the spotlight

10:59 AM Wed 26 September, 2007
By Simon Black,

GRAND Final week … it’s like being an animal in a zoo.
It’s like an endless parade of people watching your every move.
Not quite a cage with iron bars but that inescapable focus is something like a gorilla or a chimpanzee on show at Melbourne Zoo might feel.
That’s the best description I can come up with for seven days that is every young footballer’s dream and the culmination of a lifetime of hard work.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate through my 10 years in the AFL to have been involved in the last week of the season four times. And I’ve got a string of memories that will live with me forever.
There are the contrasting emotions of excitement, relief and disbelief at winning three flags in 2001-02-03. And the utter devastation of defeat in 2004 that only served as a reminder of just how precious the other three years were.
More personally, there is the memory of not handling it all very well in 2001. Of battling to combine grand final week with a Brownlow Medal in 2002. And the pure exhilaration of winning a Norm Smith Medal in 2003 on top of the most courageous thing I’ve seen on a football field.
I’ve got to admit I didn’t handle Grand Final week 2001 very well. I got a bit carried away with it all and got caught up in the excitement. And I didn’t play particularly well but still I enjoyed the ultimate thrill when the Lions came from 14 points down at half time to beat Essendon by 26.
It was a new experience to all of us except Martin Pike – just as it has been this week for all the Geelong players except Cam Mooney. It’s going to be a test. No doubt about that, and the fact that half the Port side has been through it is a definite edge.
I remember it as if it was yesterday. Brisbane was abuzz with the whole thing early in the week and then when we arrived in Melbourne on the Thursday I was blown away by it all. The huge crowd when we got off the plane at the airport, the bus ride into the city, the flags, the colour, the talk, the excitement … it was incredible.
You try not to use too much nervous energy but I found I got to grand final morning a bundle of nerves.
I remember sitting in the breakfast room of our hotel trying to keep myself relaxed and on track. It was lucky we had some pretty cool heads like Michael Voss, Alastair Lynch and the Scott brothers to keep us younger blokes in order.
The bus ride to the MCG is another thing. It’s over in a flash because of the police escort but the closer you get to the moment, the tenser you become.
It was good to have a walk around out in the middle before the official warm-up because it helped settle the nerves a little, but still nothing could prepare you for that moment when you first set foot out on the MCG turf as you head into battle.
It’s like you can’t feel your legs, and you’re floating along on top of the ground. The excitement is extraordinary and I struggled to kick the ball properly in the final warm-up.
It becomes a battle of mental strength and I got better with the experience of each Grand Final because I knew what to expect and was better-equipped to cope with it.
Geelong and Port Adelaide players will be going through exactly these feelings this week and whichever group handles it best collectively will have a decided advantages because they’ll settle quickest when finally the ball is bounced.
I feel for Jimmy Bartel this week because he’s got to cope with all that and the hype of a Brownlow Medal win.
It’s nothing new for the medalist to play in the Grand Final, having now happened seven times in the last eight years, and I was happy enough that I coped okay.
But the fact that I’d won the medal didn’t help one little bit in the grand final against Collingwood when the Lions were supposed to win easily. The problem was the Pies hadn’t read the script and in freezing conditions, with intermittent rain, they made it one hell of a fight.
That’s why when the final siren sounded and we were nine points up it was a totally different feeling to 12 months earlier. More one of relief that we’d got over the line.
Geelong will limit totally the distractions for the 2007 Brownlow Medalist but still Bartel will be counting the hours until 2.30pm Saturday when finally all the hype is over and he can go back to just doing what he does best … playing footy.
Strangely, the 2003 grand final was the game the 2002 grand final was meant to be. We beat Collingwood by 50 points and had the rare privilege through much of the last quarter of playing out time knowing the flag was ours.
It doesn’t get much better than that, especially after we’d carried a stack of injured players into the grand final. If we’d had to play again the following week it would have been a battle because a bunch of guys would not have come up.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Black closes in on Voss
11:35 AM Fri 28 September, 2007
for lions.com.au

When lithe, long-haired midfielder Simon Black joined the Brisbane Lions back in the summer of 1997-98, he made an immediate impression.
His endurance was in the same class as the highly respected Shaun Hart, and he showed a happy knack of finding the football from his very first game – a pre-season Ansett Cup match against Fremantle in the unlikely venue of Cape Town, South Africa.

Then-football manager and recruiting expert Scott Clayton, the man who has assembled much of the Western Bulldogs’ current line-up, quipped at the time to another official that he felt sorry for the young Mt Isa-born but West Australian talent.

He was going to be an outstanding player, but he was going to constantly finish behind the legendary Michael Voss for most awards.

Clayton was right and wrong.

Black is outstanding, he did initially finish behind Voss, but he is fast catching up to sit alongside him in most areas.

The duo both own a Brownlow Medal, and Black’s effort to finish second in the 2007 count saw him career tally soar pass the century mark.

The 28-year-old (he turns 29 next April) now has 119 career votes, and is clearly to the second alltime career votegetter in Lions history.

The man in front of him is Voss, who captured 150 votes over 15 years at a remarkable average of 10 votes per season.

Voss won his Brownlow with the Brisbane Bears in 1996, and it still rankles with some critics that he didn’t win the gong again in 2003 when he won most other media awards and clearly was a matchwinner in super team.

Black has just completed his 10th season in the AFL, meaning he is averaging a tick under 12 votes per season, a remarkable achievement.

Allowing for a decline in form when he enters his early thirties, it could be a line-ball race as to whether he passes his great friend and teammate or not.

In saying that, his form over the first two-thirds of the 2007 season before groin soreness and taggers curbed him over the last month would indicate that there is nothing to stop him getting many more votes next season.

Black is also in strong contention to draw closer to Voss in club champion awards too.

He and superstar centre-half-forward would be equal favourites going into the Merrett-Murray Medal vote count at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Saturday 8 October (to which tickets are still available).

Victory for Black would be his fourth triumph and place him one best and fairest title short of Voss.

As good as Voss and Black have been, their vote averages of slightly more than one every two games pales against the great Lion of the 1930s, Haydn Bunton Snr.

Bunton, the Fitzroy legend and triple Brownlow Medallist, averaged a staggering 1.025 votes per game – he polled 122 votes in 119 games. That record will never likely be approached.

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

2007 Merrett-Murray Medal Top Ten
Jonathan Brown - 68.0
Jed Adcock - 62.5
Tim Notting - 52.5
Luke Power - 51.0
Simon Black - 48.5
Nigel Lappin - 48.5
Cheynee Stiller - 45.5
Daniel Merrett - 44.0
Robert Copeland - 43.0
Joel Patfull - 42.0

Other awards
Best Midfielder - Simon Black
Members’ Player of the Year - Simon Black

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Link

Members go back-to-Black
3:17 PM Fri 19 October, 2007for lions.com.au

Co-captain Simon Black’s stance as one of the Lions’ most popular players was reaffirmed when he was voted as the 2007 Members’ Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Black accepted the honour in front of more than 800 people at the Club Champion event.
Having already won the inaugural award last year, he finished a clear winner with 335 votes ahead of Club Champion Jonathan Brown and Jed Adcock who received 234 and 128 votes respectively from the Lions members.
Luke Power (105 votes) and Tim Notting (94 votes) rounded out the top five which ended up almost identical to that of the Club Champion voting, albeit in a different order.
“This is very surprising,” Black said after receiving his award from Lions number one ticket holder John Pearce. “I would like to thank the members for their fantastic support. You guys are the lifeblood of the club.”

 

[Grimreepah]

Re: Simon Black

Historical reference:

Link

Simon is only the sixth man in the 107-year history of AFL/VFL to win the Brownlow Medal and the Club Champion award in a premiership year. He is also only the sixth player in history to win back to back best and fairest in consecutive premiership years.