After a week that saw less than half the league’s wingmen took the field, Round One provided us with a comprehensive look at the best outside runners in the game. And it gave us some surprises, as well, with perennial big scorers failing to fire a shot, and a few lesser-known lights shining brightest.
In 2024, we are honoured and privileged at The Mongrel Punt to be granted permission from the Flower family to name our Wingman of the Year Award after one of the greatest players the Melbourne Football Club has ever produced.
The Robbie Flower Wingman of the Year Award covers one of the more neglected positions in the league over the last decade. Whilst 2023 saw some recognition for the outside runners, with both Josh Daicos and Errol Gulden named to the All-Australian team, it has largely been a role that has been overlooked by all except those with a keen eye for what wingmen mean to a team – the defensive running, the link-up play, the creativity, and the potent metres-gained aspect of their play.
Now in its fifth season, The Robert Flower Wingman of the Year is the only award of its kind, ranking the wingmen of the league on a weekly basis, combining statistical data with a voting structure to assess those playing the role.
Previous winners are as follows.
2020 – Sam Menegola (Geelong)
2021 – Paul Seedsman (Adelaide)
2022 – Karl Amon (Port Adelaide)
2023 – Josh Daicos (Collingwood)
How does the scoring work?
Well, eligible players are ranked from 1-10 and awarded points in a number of statistical categories pertinent to the role of the wingmen. This score is combined with applicable votes and a little formula to reward disposal efficiency, and viola!!! There is a total score at the end. It’s a nice little system and has been pretty accurate when assessing big performances in the role for over four years, now.
The top of the leaderboard is now pretty tight, as you’d expect with some players having two games to their name, and others having just the one outing. Over the next couple of weeks, I expect things to really level out as we separate the contenders from the pretenders.
The Robbie Flower Award is part of our Members-Only content. Now in year five, it is a cornerstone article of our site. I believe work such as this is worth twenty-five cents per day. If you don’t, that’s fine. You’re welcome to join and keep reading if you do.
