I see that Sam Walsh won the Gary Ayres Medal this year. Might take a bit if heat off this column.
Might not, as well.
Each year, the writers at The Mongrel Punt watch each and every game of the finals with a clear purpose – to avoid spending time with annoying friends.
However, there is an additional reason they sit down and assess the games. Whilst HB handles the reviews, other members of the team assign player ratings to each player in each game.
At the end of the finals series, those scores are tabulated and the Mongrel Punt Player of the Finals is crowned.
In the past, there has been the conundrum of what to do when one team plays an extra game, which would have happened had GWS or Carlton won through to the Grand Final, but as it turned out, they and both the Pies and Lions all played three finals games, giving us a nice even playing field to judge the best of the finals.
So, what happens if there is a tie?
I’m glad I asked.
As with the Norm Smith Medal, we kind of prefer that there is only one winner, so in the event of a tie, we use a count back method to determine the winner
Most ten-vote games… then most nine-vote games… and so on until we find one winner.
Interesting I should point that out, huh? Yes… very interesting, indeed.
On that note, let’s jump into the final standings after the 2023 Grand Final and crown our champ.
26 –Joe Daniher (Bris)
26 – Keidean Coleman (Bris)
26 -Tom Green (GWS)
25.5 -Sam Walsh (Carl)
25 – Tom Mitchell (Coll)
25 -Josh Kelly (GWS)
24 -Jack Crisp (Coll)
24 – Blake Acres (Carl)
24 -Nic Newman (Carl)
24 – Hulk Hogan (GWS)
24 -Jack Buckley (GWS)
24 -Hugh McCluggage (Bris)
Stop whining – I know his name is Jesse…
However, we seem to have a three-way tie on our hands. Time to use the countback system – it’s what it’s there for, after all.
When we look at the game-by-game scores, Joe Daniher gets the nod on account of scoring 10,9,7 in his three outings, whilst both Coleman and Green had games scoring 10,8,8.
Unfair?
Maybe a little, but life isnt fair, really, is it? Just ask Brisbane and GWS fans how fair they think things are.
It is little consolation after such a devastating loss in the Grand animal, but Joe Daniher stood up in this year’s finals series and made a believer out of a lot of people. Not only did he play some great footy, he did it against high-quality opposition in high-pressure situations.
He may not be a premiership player, but what we witnessed in 2023 was Joe Daniher becoming the player we all.thought he could be at one stage, and plenty of us started doubting he would be after several years in the league.
Congrats Joe – the 2023 Mongrel Punt Player of the Finals.
