While Carlton fans may be celebrating their historic captain following Monday night’s Brownlow Medal countdown, many footy fans believe Patrick Cripps has exposed a massive problem with the award.
The 29-year-old broke the Brownlow vote record with 45 on Monday night to win his second medal in three seasons. Collingwood youngster Nick Daicos also broke the old record by finishing second with 38.
This has led many football fans to accuse referees of favouritism and holding votes based on a player’s name, rather than their performance.
Western Bulldogs fans were left furious that star Marcus Bontempelli was 26 points behind Cripps in the count.
“Patrick Cripps is a deserving #BrownlowMedal winner, but was he 23 votes better than Neale and 26 better than Bont?” asked one football fan.
‘Daicos also broke the all-time record and lost by 7 votes. It seems the referees are making mistakes right now.’
“To put the gravity and absurdity of 45 votes into perspective… Patty Cripps got four more votes than Marcus Bontempelli and Lachie Neale COMBINED,” another noted.
“Don’t get me wrong, Cripps is amazing, but for Bontempelli to only get 19 votes amongst many other glaring errors is mind-blowingly unbelievable. Seriously @AFL you need to take a serious look at this,” warned another football fan.
Others pointed out that the umpires deemed Cripps’ season 10 votes better than 2017, when Dustin Martin dominated the AFL and led his Tigers to first place.
“If Cripps is polling at 45, then Dustin Martin should have polled at 60 in 2017,” posted one Dusty fan.
“Anyone who thinks this was a better season than Dustin Martin’s is done for,” another added.
Carlton star Patrick Cripps was all smiles after receiving his second Brownlow Medal
Cripps joined Carlton icon Chris Judd (left) as a double Brownlow Medal winner, but not all football fans believe the voting system was fair
St Kilda fans were outraged that Cripps was awarded the maximum three points in Round 24, despite Carlton losing to the Saints.
Three Cartlon players had more disposals than the Brownlow winner, while a host of St Kilda players were overlooked, including Jack Higgins, who stole the game from Carlton, and youngster Mattaes Phillipou, who put in a standout performance.
“It’s ridiculous. He didn’t do anything until round three when Stocker got injured. He wasn’t even Carlton’s best player,” fumed one Saints fan.
“This is a fucking joke. Carlton lost a few games but got three votes. He’s definitely the refs’ favourite,” another posted.
Others pointed out that Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale received the same preferential treatment last year when he won the award.
“Lachie Neale (37 tackles, 7 marks, 6 tackles, 10 clearances) and no votes. The referees have certainly changed their favourites this season,” posted one.
“How am I going to explain to my children that Patrick Cripps and Lachie Neale have the same number of Brownlows as Goodes, Ablett and Judd?” asked another.
But Cripps had his defenders. Many argued that he was clearly the standout player in an injury-plagued team, which explained why he got so many votes.
The fact that Cripps (pictured with wife Monique after winning his second Brownlow) polled more votes than Marcus Bontempelli and Lachie Neale combined set off alarm bells for some fans.
Coleman Medal-winning duo Charlie Curnow (ankle) and Harry McKay (quad) have missed much of the season along with key players Sam Docherty (knee) and Tom De Koning (foot).
“But Carlton had a lot of other good players? I think that’s the biggest problem with the current voting system,” one fan posted.
“He has no teammates to take votes away from him, so he will have good polls. That said, he is a fantastic player and deserves the award,” added another.
Cripps himself was proud to receive the award again but said a drought-breaking title was what the club was craving.
“We’re a good club at the moment, but not a great club yet. We think we can be a great club,” Cripps said.
“We have a lot of work to do. I know we can do amazing things.”
