Adam Simpson and Justin Longmuir have snubbed Harley Reid for key votes in the AFL Coaches’ Association award, with one of the pair deeming he wasn’t among the best three players on the ground during Saturday’s western derby.
Reid lit up Optus Stadium with 19 disposals and three goals to finish runner-up in Glendinning-Allan Medal voting. All three judges gave him votes, but they disagreed on his value, with one naming him best on ground, one giving him two votes and the other handing him one vote under the 3-2-1 system.
The AFLCA has a 5-4-3-2-1 system and the tally of both coaches’ votes is added together. Glendinning-Allan medal winner Elliot Yeo tied with Eagles’ key forward Jake Waterman on nine votes.
That means one coach had Waterman as the best and the other chose Yeo. Waterman kicked five goals and Yeo collected 26 possessions and booted one major.
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READ NOWReid tied with West Coast key defender Tom Barrass on five votes. That figure required the No.1 draft pick to receive three votes from one coach and two from the other.
The award doesn’t list the individual votes, so it won’t be publicly known which coach felt Reid wasn’t in the best three players on the field.
West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly and ruckman Bailey Williams collected one vote each.
Reid received four votes the previous weekend after collecting 27 possessions and kicking one goal.
All eyes will now turn to the end of the season to see how the four field umpires viewed the game when they submitted their Brownlow Medal votes.
Reid has captured the imagination of footy fans and experts. There have been calls for him to receive a life changing contract worth about $2 million per season now that early draft picks can sign extensions to their original three-year deals.
Reid arrived at the Eagles in a blaze of glory as the No.1 draft pick and has delivered on the hype so far.
AFLCA VOTES
- 9 Elliot Yeo (WCE)
- 9 Jake Waterman (WCE)
- 5 Tom Barrass (WCE)
- 5 Harley Reid (WCE)
- 1 Tim Kelly (WCE)
- 1 Bailey Williams (WCE)