Great topic Jackstar.
Even though the Brownlow isn't the best gauge for a players worth, there is no denying that we overrate our players and i'm glad that the Brownlow medal votes we recieved backs that up.
In particualr it was telling with Ottens, who for all the good statistics he had, failed to have any impact in turning matches.
Also not surprising to see other overrated players like Krakouer not get a vote.
The worrying thing is that if there were votes for the best ten players on the ground, the players you listed probably still wouldn't have registered a vote!
The brownlow is not the best gauge, but it is a much better measure of an AFL footballer than a club's internal B&F. How many brownlow's did campbell win again?
Come off it 1980! He has won as many Brownlows as Leigh Matthews, Wayne Carey and Gary Ablett combined!
Now when you have an award where players like Shane Woewodin, Shane Crawford, Scott Wynd are recipients and the game's best go home empty handed, you know its not the best guage of a player's worth!
I've said this before and i'll say it again, look how many votes Shane Woewodin has recieved in comparison to say someone like Paul Licuria. Woewodin would have double the votes at least. And yet he's not half the player Licuria is!
Or to take an example closer to home, lol, look how many votes in the Brownlow Matthew Knights got compared to Campbell, and WE ALL KNOW who the better player is.
Notwhithstanding this argument, the original point stands, we overrate and fall in love with players after pulling off a few good performances. In Brad's case, the Brownlow votes he got coincided with what he is really worth.