What's the best marker for the best player of the season?

Which award best reflect the best player in a given AFL season?

  • Brownlow medal

    Votes: 3 9.7%
  • Coleman medal

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Norm Smith Medal

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • AFLPA (Player's Association) MVP

    Votes: 8 25.8%
  • AFLCA (Coaches' Association) award

    Votes: 18 58.1%
  • Best and Fairest of a premiership team

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Best and Fairest of the team topping at the end of the minor rounds

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other (please give further comments)

    Votes: 1 3.2%

  • Total voters
    31

John Who

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 16, 2017
8,725
7,094
AFL Club
Adelaide
With all the awards given each year in the AFL, what is the one award that truly reflects who is the "best of them all" in any given year?
Another interesting point, is it possible to be the best player in a given year, without winning any awards whatsoever (for that year)?
 

Yojimbo

Cancelled
10k Posts
Nov 14, 2012
10,914
9,834
The "Elephant" in the room.
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
I tend to like the individual teams Best and Fairest top tens, but like most awards people see what they want to see. Carlton are holding out on me until 2021 so i will have to wait to see if it's Walsh or Weitering who reigns in 2020. I figure the people who hatch the plans are the best people to judge who has best carried them out with influence where as there are players who play well even though how they play is against instruction.
 

Barry_Badrinath

Brownlow Medallist
Aug 23, 2011
19,104
62,066
Bathing in Premiership Glory
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Grand Finals at the Gabba
AFLPA MVP has been the most accurate IMO

I like the idea of the coaches MVP, but the results are questionable IMO. Does anyone seriously believe Dan Hannebery was the best player in the league in 2015? Ahead of Nat Fyfe?

Marc Murphy ahead of Judd and Swan in 2011?
Barry Hall in 2005?
Simon Goodwin ahead of peak Judd in 2006?
Pendlebury over Ablett in 2013?
Max Gawn in 2018?
 
Jun 4, 2005
20,731
14,022
Putney
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood
AFLPA MVP has been the most accurate IMO

I like the idea of the coaches MVP, but the results are questionable IMO. Does anyone seriously believe Dan Hannebery was the best player in the league in 2015? Ahead of Nat Fyfe?

Marc Murphy ahead of Judd and Swan in 2011?
Barry Hall in 2005?
Simon Goodwin ahead of peak Judd in 2006?
Pendlebury over Ablett in 2013?
Max Gawn in 2018?
There is a difference between the players MVP and the coaches award.

The players just vote at the end of the season, these are blokes who most admit to barely watching any footy outside of their own game prep. It is just a popularity vote influenced by media....but yes great to be recognised by your peers

Coaches award votes after each game, they assess who had biggest impact on each result and then allocate points. Tally them up each year and you have your coaches winner.

M.Murphy absolutely shat in the Carlton BnF in 2011, 678 votes back to Judd with 469...which basically sums it up, Murphy was dominant across the 2011 season, but Judd still has the bigger reputation.

AFL MVP is about reputation, coaches award is about actual on-field output during games that year.
 
They measure different things, so each has it's own validity.

For mine though, I prefer the coaches award because it reflects the effect a player had on the teams' plans, both in helping them along (own coach) and frustrating opposition plans (oppo coach).
 

John Who

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 16, 2017
8,725
7,094
AFL Club
Adelaide
There is a difference between the players MVP and the coaches award.

The players just vote at the end of the season, these are blokes who most admit to barely watching any footy outside of their own game prep. It is just a popularity vote influenced by media....but yes great to be recognised by your peers

Coaches award votes after each game, they assess who had biggest impact on each result and then allocate points. Tally them up each year and you have your coaches winner.

M.Murphy absolutely shat in the Carlton BnF in 2011, 678 votes back to Judd with 469...which basically sums it up, Murphy was dominant across the 2011 season, but Judd still has the bigger reputation.

AFL MVP is about reputation, coaches award is about actual on-field output during games that year.
Regarding the AFLPA MVP, players vote by end of the year, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it's less valid than the AFLCA award. I can see that reputation can influence the result of the AFLPA MVP, but this can technically affect the AFLCA as well.

I think the answer lies somewhere between the AFLPA MVP and AFLCA award. With the former appreciating more the flashy stuff and the latter focusing more on the consistency.
 
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