Farmer for Brownlow to be scrapped
Herald Sun | Jay Clark | February 24, 2008 12:00am
LEGENDARY ruckman Graham "Polly" Farmer wants the Brownlow Medal scrapped. The 1963 Geelong premiership ruckman said the coveted award put too much emphasis on individuals and detracted from the spirit of the team game.
Farmer also hit out at the voting system, re-igniting the debate over the best method, saying it was impossible for umpires to officiate and pick the best players.
"The Brownlow Medal is given to the fairest-and-best player picked by the umpires, but the majority of umpires have never played the game," he said.
"They're busy out there seeing the game is played fairly, so it's a very difficult position to put them in.
"Technically, it really would be better off if there weren't any in dividual awards, then the sprit of the game would be team against team.
"They (AFL) should scrap the Brownlow, but unfortunately that hasn't happened because it's such a big part of the game now."
As football prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary, and reflects on its greatest players, more than half of the AFL's team of the century did not win a Brownlow.
In fact, several of the prime candidates to be rated the greatest footballer yet -- such as Leigh Matthews, Farmer, Gary Ablett Sr, Ted Whitten, Ron Barassi and Wayne Carey -- all missed out on the Brownlow.
The AFL does not see any need to change the Brownlow system, but Farmer disagrees.
"It's an individual award that is picked by umpires, who may not be in the best position to vote, but they're the ones who do it," he said.
"You'd still have a best-and-fairest, because newspapers and television stations would pick best players, but it wouldn't be from the actual league itself."
Now, 36 years after he retired, Farmer reflects on his football career with great pride.
"All the things young people dream of in football, I dreamed of and I achieved them. It gives me great satisfaction," he said. "Football was the game I loved and it was all I had going for me."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23266457-19742,00.html
