The footy world is in uproar, but Nasiah’s Brownlow snub isn’t as bad as you think

2 hours ago 1

Opinion

September 23, 2025 — 12.12pm

There are plenty of issues AFL chief Andrew Dillon must tend to after this season, but overhauling the Brownlow Medal should not be in the top three, two, or one on his list of priorities.

The snubbing of St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera for one of the individual games of the season will be seen as evidence of a broken Brownlow. It shouldn’t be.

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera at the Brownlow on Monday night.

Yes, Collingwood supporters and Nick Daicos backers will feel their man was hard done by, beaten by five votes in a count where Matt Rowell polled heavily for several “meh” sort of games.

Daicos was undoubtedly a hard luck story, but the Brownlow has always thrown up voting anomalies. It is part of the award’s charm, and has not robbed the medal of its importance – it remains the most prestigious individual accolade in the competition.

The incredulous look on Max Gawn’s face when teammate Jack Viney’s name was read out for the three instead of Wanganeen-Milera’s was indicative of the disbelief inside Crown’s Palladium ballroom, and in loungerooms around the country.

Cast your mind back through history, it is not difficult to find games where the voting raises eyebrows.

The most famous example arguably came in 1993 when Greg Williams failed to poll a vote in a game where he amassed 44 disposals. He came equal second, one vote behind Essendon champion Gavin Wanganeen.

There are lesser-known cases. It took this column just a few minutes to find another bizarre set of votes from that year. In round one, St Kilda great Robert Harvey, with 30 possessions and two goals, was pipped for a vote by unheralded teammate Lawrence Bingham’s seven disposals, three hitouts and one tackle.

In the opening round of 1986, the “Flying Dutchman”, Essendon’s Paul Vander Haar, was deemed best on ground for his 13 possessions, while teammate Paul Salmon’s seven goals were worthy of just the two votes and Alan Ezard’s 23 disposals and four goals got nothing.

There would be dozens of games each season like this, yet decades on the Brownlow remains one of the defining items on a player’s CV and still is one of the most important events on the football calendar.

This year, Rowell was the beneficiary of several such instances, polling 11 votes in four games where he did not get a coaches’ vote.

In those games, he had tackle counts of eight, eight, two and 17 – perhaps the sight of Rowell being one of the last up to hand the ball back to the umpire had a lasting impact. Similarly, Viney laid 16 tackles to Wanganeen-Milera’s four and had 31 pressure acts to 12.

If there is a feeling today the Suns gun should not have won, it will fade.

Twenty-nine years on, nobody would say Essendon legend James Hird was not a worthy winner in 1996 when he tied with Brisbane great Michael Voss, or likewise with Nathan Buckley when he shared “Charlie” with Sydney’s Adam Goodes and Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto in 2003.

In round one against Richmond, Hird received two votes for 16 possessions and a goal while Richmond spearhead Matthew Richardson got nothing for six goals – and 20 disposals – as did Essendon forward Scott Cummings.

Later that year, Voss was completely snubbed despite 32 possessions and four goals but teammate Matthew Clarke’s 14 disposals and 28 hitouts earned a vote.

When the Swans played the Pies in round 21 2003, Goodes was extremely unlucky to not get a vote for his 27 possessions and 20 hitouts behind Buckley’s one for … drum roll ... 17 disposals and no goals.

Of course, tweaks can be made to assist umpires. Supplying them with a copy of the stats can inform their judgment and would not jeopardise the integrity of the umpires. Umpires do not even need to turn on their phones or laptops. All it would take would be a Champion Data staffer running down a printout from the press box.

For those who want the voting taken from the umpires because their job is already difficult enough, consider that just about every competition in Australia has its best and fairest judged by the whistle-blowers and not the coaches. This is the umpires’ award.

There already are awards for the coaches (AFL Coaches Association Champion Player Award), the players (Leigh Matthews Trophy) and the media.

If it is taken out of the hands of the umpires, then they can wipe out a century’s worth of tradition and change the name entirely. It won’t be the Brownlow any more.

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