Kevin Bartlett says he got it right ignoring Ryan Griffen in the 2005 Rising Star Sam Landsberger
From: Herald Sun
June 02, 2013 10:00PMRICHMOND legend Kevin Bartlett has defended his decision to overlook Ryan Griffen in the 2005 Rising Star voting, which gave Tiger Brett Deledio a nine-vote victory.
Bartlett awarded Deledio maximum votes and was the only judge to leave the Western Bulldogs star out of his top five.
Griffen finished second, 15 votes clear of third.
All eight other judges gave Griffen and Deledio five or four votes under the 5-4-3-2-1 structure.
A former Bulldogs official said Bartlett's votes had been noted as "strange" at the time.
"Yeah, to not have 'Griff' in the top five was surprising. If he'd switched and given Griffen five and Deledio none, then Griff wins the Rising Star. We definitely did the maths," he said.
"But Deledio had a ripper first year, too. And he's showed ever since he's a deserving winner."
Bartlett denied making an oversight, telling the Herald Sun he stood by his votes.
"I voted at the time because that's how I felt the votes should be. If you don't like it, don't worry about it," he said, speaking about the voting for the first time.
Asked if he thought Griffen was a talent in 2005, Bartlett said: "I saw everyone that was nominated as a talent. Everyone was considered.
"People vote how they want to vote. And if they vote the same as me, they vote the same. If they vote differently, they vote differently."
AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan, who tracked the pair's junior development closely and voted on the award, said Deledio was a clear winner.
"I had Deledio significantly as the best, and Griffen significantly as the second best," he said.
"He might have been a slow starter, Griffo, whereas Deledio jumped straight out of the blocks."
Sheehan said Rising Star judges voted independently at the end of the season and did not meet throughout the year to discuss progress.
Deledio was taken at No.1 in the 2004 draft, two picks before Griffen.
Deledio averaged 15 disposals and kicked 14.10 from 22 matches in 2005.
Griffen averaged 18 disposals in six of the final seven games as the Dogs went on a winning streak to charge into finals calculations under first-year coach Rodney Eade.
Griffen became the first player this season to collect 40 touches in a match on Saturday, dragging the Dogs to victory against Port Adelaide as stand-in captain.
HOW KB VOTED
5. Brett Deledio (Rich)
4. Jed Adcock (BL)
3. Brock McLean (Melb)
2. Jordan Lewis (Haw)
1. David Mundy (Freo)
| BRETT DELEDIO | vs | RYAN GRIFFEN |
| | |
| 26 | Age | 26 |
| | |
| Pick 1 in 2004 | Drafted | Pick 3 in 2004 |
| | |
| 181 | Games | 171 |
| | |
| 22.5 | Ave disposals | 21 |
| | |
| 2.7 | Ave tackles | 3.4 |
| | |
| 123 | Goals | 113 |
| | |
| 45 | Brownlow votes | 45 |
| | |
| 2008, 2009 | Club best-and-fairests | 2010 |
