Brisbane star Lachie Neale has claimed his second Brownlow Medal, winning by just two votes – but there was controversy over a three-vote game where he had just seven kicks.
Social media erupted when Neale was dubbed best on ground in Brisbane’s Round 6 win; a match where he wasn’t expected to poll and didn’t receive any coaches’ votes for his efforts against GWS.
Neale ended up claiming the Brownlow with 31 votes – taking the win from Western Bulldogs’ star Marcus Bontempelli who finished on 29 votes.
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And he wasn’t the only controversial three-vote getter with young Port mid Jason Horne-Francis getting the nod in an umpiring decision labelled a “travesty” by Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph.
In a match where Giant Josh Kelly had 41 disposals, and Neale’s teammate Daniel Rich racked up 27 disposals and 750m gained while Charlie Cameron kicked seven goals, Neale was announced as the three-vote getter Brisbane’s Round 6 win.
Neale was the 10th highest disposal getter in the match, with an efficiency of just 65 per cent.
The decision to award him the best on ground title stunned the AFL community, and turned the Brownlow Medal count in the Lions’ star’s favour.
That three-vote effort helped him jump to the top of the leaderboard midway through the count. And he then claimed the win in the final round of the season.
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The decision to award Horne-Francis a best on ground honour in Round 14 was just as baffling.
Horne-Francis had just 13 disposals, one mark and one tackle to finish the 22nd highest possession getter for the match.
He didn’t hit the scoreboard and went at just 53.8% disposal efficiency for the clash – while also coughing up four free kicks on the night.
In a tweet, Ralph said Horne-Francis had “zero impact” while other critics were left in equal shock by the umpires’ opinion.
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