Why star defender Darcy Moore should feel disrespected

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Collingwood captain Darcy Moore should be offended. He has been disrespected by the 18 AFL coaches, including his own, Craig McRae.

So too, Brisbane skipper Harris Andrews, Hawthorn leader James Sicily, four-time All-Australian Tom Stewart and Port Adelaide gun Aliir Aliir.

Darcy Moore is a champion defender, but you won’t find his name among the top 20 vote-getters in the AFL Coaches Association champion player award, and he didn’t even poll one Brownlow vote in 2022.Credit: AFL Photos

The intercepting defender has become the most critical position in a team’s line-up in season 2023; teams cannot win this year’s premiership without one.

Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne occupy the top four positions on the premiership table; all keep at least one gun interceptor behind the ball.

Greater Western Sydney have won their past six games. Their success has coincided with All-Australian defender Sam Taylor returning from a hamstring injury in round 14, and the improvement of key back Jack Buckley.

But after round 19, not one of these star defenders ranks inside the top 20 players in the AFL Coaches Association voting for the player of the year.

On a Monday, after reviewing the game on tape, the senior coach from each team files their votes from five (awarded to the most influential player on the ground) to one. The perfect 10 is the ultimate praise for any player – it means both coaches have recognised his influence on the result of the match.

Along with the Brownlow Medal, it is the most prestigious individual award a player can win.

Alarmingly, Giants forward Toby Greene is the only non-midfielder to feature in the top 20 players as voted by the coaches this season.

It is now impossible for a defender to join Gavin Wanganeen on the Brownlow Medal honour roll. Or a forward or ruckman to join Tony Lockett, Scott Wynd or Jim Stynes.

Toby Greene is the only non-midfielder in the top 20 of the coaches’ award votes.Credit: AFL Photos

This must change.

Ask any AFL player about their motivation to play the game, and you will get a unanimous response: “I play to win a premiership”.

In a team sport, this is the only acceptable answer. However, there are significant individual honours that, if earned, add to a player’s legacy, and should be celebrated accordingly.

Winning a club champion title is special, particularly in a winning team. Coaches often vote for players they have tasked with specific roles on game day. It accurately reflects how well a player has completed his brief, as assigned and judged by his coaching panel.

The intercept defender has become one of the most important roles in the AFL, but, strangely, those who excel at the role – including Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore, Port’s Aliir Aliir, Geelong’s Tom Stewart and Hawthorn skipper James Sicily – still fail to get the recognition they deserve when the coaches and umpires allocate their match-day votes.Credit: Getty Images

A club’s best and fairest also recognises consistency and durability. This allows a team to acknowledge role players such as Jack Crisp (Collingwood), Callum Mills (Sydney) and Cam Guthrie (Geelong), who won their team’s club champion awards last season, as well as the superstars.

A place in the annual All-Australian team is also notable for any player. It is an exclusive achievement. To stand among the best 22 players in the competition while wearing the tailored green blazer is significant.

Becoming an All-Australian puts you in the top three per cent of your peers.

However, the award that should accurately reflect a player’s brilliance and influence across the course of any season is the AFL coaches’ award.

You would think the coaches would be the best judges. Perhaps not.

At round 19 this season, the leaderboard is crowded with midfielders – Collingwood sensation Nick Daicos leads with 99 votes. Daicos started the season as a running defender before moving to a permanent midfield role. He has now played most of the season as a midfielder, and 70 per cent of his possessions have been won in the midfield.

Melbourne’s Christian Petracca (84 votes), who, despite moving to a forward role in the past three weeks, has played the bulk of the year as an inside midfielder, is second. Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters (77 votes), Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli (76 votes) and Brisbane’s Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale (73 votes) round out the top five positions.

There is no key defender, key forward or ruckman in the top 20. And it’s not the only award dominated by midfielders.

Last year’s Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps.Credit: AFL Photos

The past 17 Brownlow winners since 2007 are all midfielders. The most recent is Carlton’s Patrick Cripps.

Versatile Sydney champion Adam Goodes is the most recent player to win the Brownlow in a specialist role. During the Swans’ 2006 premiership campaign, Goodes played predominantly in the ruck. However, due to his athleticism and ball-winning ability, it could be argued that he was playing as an extra midfielder.

The top eight in last season’s Brownlow count were all midfielders. Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron was the only non-midfielder to place in the top 10.

It is laughable that Taylor, who dominated as a defender for the Giants in 2022 winning All-Australian honours and his side’s best and fairest, did not receive a single vote from the umpires.
In 86 career games, Taylor has received one vote.

Moore did not receive a single Brownlow vote in 2022 either.

Every coach would tell you how prominent the emergence of intercepting defenders has become and how the position has changed the tactics and strategy of today’s game.

So why haven’t they and the umpires recognised this when handing out the game’s highest individual honour?

It is a blight on the game that players cannot win the AFL’s two most prestigious awards unless they play in the midfield.

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