Last week, I wrote about how we had five legitimate contenders for the title of The Mongrel’s Defensive Player of the Year. I also wrote about how any of them needed one big week to put themselves in the box seat to win it.
And one of them stepped it up in Round 22. The race could be over.
One of the most glaring absences in the AFL’s award structure is the failure to recognise the best defenders in the game.
In 2020, The Mongrel had enough of the league dragging its feet and missing a golden opportunity to honour the unsung heroes of the league. As such, we introduced The Mongrel Punt Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Now in year four, the DPOY award captures the performances of the best defenders in the game, irrespective of their roles. We make provision for the contest-killers, the interceptors, the rebounders, the run-and-carry players, and even the defensive midfielders. Our formula uses statistics – both official and a few of our own, as well as a combination of votes to find a number each week for the defenders.
At the end of the season, we crown our Defensive Player of the Year, and what is ridiculous is that it automatically makes our award the longest-running award with a focus on the defenders. Hell, even if the AFL decided to extract the digit and start one right now, we’d have more history behind our efforts.
That’s actually pretty sad – the AFL should be doing a lot better, here.
Anyway, who will join Luke Ryan (2020), Jacob Weitering (2021), and James Sicily (2022) as winners of the best award on offer for the defenders in the league?
Now, I know some of you will ask – I am a member; why can’t I see this? This is for the Inner Circle Member tier – always has been. This is what these people generously pay a bit extra for, so I am more than happy to dive deep for them when it comes to this content. If you’re a Mongrel Member and you’d like to upgrade, go right ahead. If not, that’s cool, as well. But this is not a new thing – has been that way for over two years now. Wanna join them?
