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imagine running up and down an oval for 2 hours, constantly stopping to stare at guys' feet to make sure they don't take even the slightest step off the mark, honing your mind-reading powers to judge "intent," juggling the 3 new rule interpretations the officials drummed into you during the week, trying to make sure you don't botch the bounces and throws too badly, constantly mentally steeling yourself against the 20-30k rabid flogs screaming insults at you, and then being asked who played well. you wouldn't know! you'd just default to the big name who you saw marching it out of your stoppages. why do they still make the umpires vote on it?
Like, it's not a slight or an insult or taking anything away from them. This isn't a suburban league anymore, they can employ full time officials who can focus on who's playing well and assign votes for the league B&F. It doesn't have to be the umpires medal, I think it's honestly unfair to put that extra strain on them. 45 votes for Cripps is beyond ridiculous but honestly 38 for Daicos is too, getting 30 votes used to be a crazy blowout and it's not like the league was just way more even 10-20 years ago. These are the numbers you get when the umpire isn't sure who to give votes to so they just pick the most obvious players that get the most media attention.
Yep terrible voting. But not as bad Daicos getting votes in a game he was subbed off (with only 15 disposals).Cripps polled 3 votes despite 19 dispoals (7 kicks, 12 handballs), 0.0 score involvements and 72 Champion Data Ranking Points in Round 13 vs Essendon
Nothing prohibits the umps from keeping their own mental tally of player stats though.Add on top of all that the fact that the umps aren't allowed to look at any stats before they vote.