And the winner of the 2009 Gavin Brown Medal is:

[David]

Nicksters, there has been a monumental mistake. We had arranged with Channel 7 to televise the biggest football medal count of the year on Monday night, but some wires got crossed and they ended up screening some umpires' award ceremony.

Never mind! That particular award (of which we do not speak in these parts) is a bit of a laugh, really. Think the E.J. Whitten Cup match with formal wear and alcohol. Instead of the fattest players winning, the award goes to the baldest. It's all quite amusing if you're in on the joke, but some people get upset that Collingwood players get overlooked. Don't be so ignorant! It's a well-known fact that our top players signed an agreement with the umpires at the start of the year to not receive too many votes, lest the results of the Gavin Brown Medal be given away ahead of time and betting agencies be sent into a frenzy.

So, here we are. Without much further ado (I like to drag out my preambles longer than Demetriou's pauses following players' initials), here are the results of the still-currently-imaginary* Nick's Bulletin Board Gavin Brown Medal for 2009.

*(this need not be the case: avail yourself of this thread and make a helpful suggestion that doesn't involve me forcefully inserting any objects into my rectum!)

Here be the votes:

R.1 v Adelaide: L
3. Scott Pendlebury
2. Shane O’Bree
1. Shannon Cox

R.2 v Melbourne: W
3. Josh Fraser
2. Dane Swan
1. Alan Didak

R.3 v Geelong: L
3. Josh Fraser
2. Dayne Beams
1. Dane Swan

R.4 v Brisbane: W
3. Scott Pendlebury
2. Paul Medhurst
1. Simon Prestigiacomo

R.5 v Essendon: L
3. Dane Swan
2. Scott Pendlebury
1. Leon Davis

R.6 v North Melbourne: W
3. Leon Davis
2. Tarkyn Lockyer
1. Dane Swan

R.7 v St. Kilda: L
3. Nick Maxwell
2. Sharrod Wellingham
1. Shane O’Bree

R.8 v Carlton: L
3. Simon Prestigiacomo
2. Scott Pendlebury
1. Leon Davis

After Round 8, the leaderboard stood as follows:

1. Scott Pendlebury 10
2. Dane Swan 7
3. Josh Fraser 6
4. Leon Davis 5
5. Simon Prestigiacomo 4
6. Nick Maxwell 3
6. Shane O'Bree 3
8. Dayne Beams 2
8. Tarkyn Lockyer 2
8. Paul Medhurst 2
8. Sharrod Wellingham 2
12. Shannon Cox 1
12. Alan Didak 1

Pendlebury had jumped out to a clear lead, while Swan, Fraser, Davis and Presti made up the top 5.

R.9 v West Coast: W
3. Leon Davis
2. Scott Pendlebury
1. Dane Swan

R.10 v Port Adelaide: W
3. Dane Swan
2. Brad Dick
1. Leigh Brown

R. 11 v Melbourne: W
3. Alan Didak
2. Brad Dick
1. Dane Swan

R.12 v Sydney: W
3. Alan Didak
2. Nick Maxwell
1. Harry O’Brien

R.13 v Fremantle: W
3. Alan Didak
2. Dane Swan
1. Harry O’Brien

R. 14 v Essendon: W
3. Josh Fraser
2. Alan Didak
1. Travis Cloke

R.15 v Western Bulldogs: W
3. Alan Didak
2. Dane Swan
1. Nick Maxwell

After Round 15, the leaderboard had changed dramatically:

1. Dane Swan 16
2. Alan Didak 15
3. Scott Pendlebury 12
4. Josh Fraser 9
5. Leon Davis 8
6. Nick Maxwell 6
7. Brad Dick 4
7. Simon Prestigiacomo 4
9. Shane O'Bree 3
10. Dayne Beams 2
10. Tarkyn Lockyer 2
10. Paul Medhurst 2
10. Harry O'Brien 2
10. Sharrod Wellingham 2
15. Leigh Brown 1
15. Travis Cloke 1
15. Shannon Cox 1

Dane Swan was the new leader at the conclusion of round 15 with 16 votes, while Alan Didak had come from nowhere to trail by just 1. Pendlebury had slipped to third, while Fraser and Davis were still thereabouts.

R.16 v Hawthorn: L
3. Heath Shaw
2. Dane Swan
1. Tarkyn Lockyer

R.17 v Carlton: W
3. Dane Swan
2. Leon Davis
1. Heath Shaw

R.18 v Brisbane: W
3. Scott Pendlebury
2. Dane Swan
1. Nick Maxwell

R.19 v Adelaide: W
3. Alan Didak
2. Cameron Wood
1. Dane Swan

R.20 v Richmond: W
3. Dayne Beams
2. Dane Swan
1. Scott Pendlebury

R.21 v Sydney: W
3. Dayne Beams
2. Heath Shaw
1. Jack Anthony

R.22 v Western Bulldogs: L
3. Tarkyn Lockyer
2. Heath Shaw
1. Nick Maxwell

The leaderboard at the end of the home and away series ran as follows:

1. Dane Swan 26
2. Alan Didak 18
3. Scott Pendlebury 16
4. Leon Davis 10
5. Josh Fraser 9
6. Dayne Beams 8
6. Nick Maxwell 8
6. Heath Shaw 8
9. Tarkyn Lockyer 6
10. Brad Dick 4
10. Simon Prestigiacomo 4
12. Shane O’Bree 3
13. Paul Medhurst 2
13. Harry O’Brien 2
13. Sharrod Wellingham 2
13. Cameron Wood 2
17. Jack Anthony 1
17. Leigh Brown 1
20. Travis Cloke 1
20. Shannon Cox 1

Dane Swan had taken a big lead going into the finals series, with Didak and Pendlebury the only two players capable of catching him. Davis sat fourth, while Fraser remained in 5th place ahead of Shaw, Maxwell and Beams.

QF v St. Kilda: L
3. Nick Maxwell
2. Dale Thomas
1. Heath Shaw

SF v Adelaide: W
3. Steele Sidebottom
2. Heath Shaw
1. Nick Maxwell

PF v Geelong: L
3. Leigh Brown
2. Heath Shaw
1. Shane O’Bree

FINAL TALLY:

1. Dane Swan 26
2. Alan Didak 18
3. Scott Pendlebury 16
4. Heath Shaw 13
5. Nick Maxwell 12
6. Leon Davis 10
7. Josh Fraser 9
8. Dayne Beams 8
9. Tarkyn Lockyer 6
10. Leigh Brown 4
10. Brad Dick 4
10. Shane O’Bree 4
10. Simon Prestigiacomo 4
14. Steele Sidebottom 3
15. Paul Medhurst 2
15. Sharrod Wellingham 2
15. Harry O’Brien 2
15. Cameron Wood 2
15. Dale Thomas 2
20. Jack Anthony 1
20. Travis Cloke 1
20. Shannon Cox 1

I'd like to congratulate the winner of the 2009 Gavin Brown Medal, Dane Swan.

Given that the medal has only existed for four seasons now, Dane's third victory is all the more remarkable (Tarkyn Lockyer won it in 2007, for the record). But it is no secret that we all hold him in very high esteem, as does most of the football public and media. Congratulations Swanny!

Finishing in second place was Alan Didak with 18 votes. Amazingly, he received 14 of these votes from round 11 to round 15, with Josh Fraser's performance against Essendon the only thing stopping Alan from scoring 5 BOGs in a row. Let's hope he continues to produce such brilliance through the entirety of 2010.

In third is Scott Pendlebury, who was our stand-out player when we were struggling in the early stages of the season. He received 16 votes.

Fourth and fifth went to Heath Shaw and Nick Maxwell, who both finished the season very strongly. On votes alone, Heath was our best player of the finals series, while our captain proved his critics comprehensively wrong and earned a deserved spot in the All-Australian team for his efforts.

Special mention to Dayne Beams, who received 8 votes in his first season, while the much-maligned Leigh Brown finished equal 10th and got the nod for best on ground in our last match of the season. All up, 22 of our players received votes throughout the season.

Thanks to all Nicksters who voted week-in, week-out throughout the season, especially those who were brave enough to put up voting threads after bad losses. My only wish is that we can somehow make this award more tangible - as I have said before, the umpires, commentators, print media, players and coaches all get to have their say, but this is the fans' award (being the biggest Collingwood discussion forum on the internet, I think we can lay claim to this). Let's find a way to actually have a real trophy that we can present to the player that the Collingwood community has adjudged to be the best of the season.

Once again, I'd like to congratulate Dane Swan, winner of the 2009 Gavin Brown Medal.

[Didaksgoal]

This is the award that counts.

Well done Dane.


Go the Pies

[Kingswood]

Dave thanks a lot for doing all this. Its a task that somebody had to do and I'm glad we've got someone who is actually enthusiastic about it haha, you make it very fun to read too..

Congrats to Dane Swan (any surprise?)

In fact that top five is looking very fair

1. Dane Swan 26
2. Alan Didak 18
3. Scott Pendlebury 16
4. Heath Shaw 13
5. Nick Maxwell 12

Surprised Fraser did OK as well. he did have a pretty good year didn't he (when fit)

Also surprised Dale Thomas didn't get more votes. Brilliant finals series, relatively quite during home and away but not dissappointed in his season at all. Always tries hard, chases and tackles endlessly, and has added greater defencive ability to his game. I'd be looking for a massive 2010 from Daisy


One question: have you changed the way you tally the votes? I thought you would individually count every posters vote (so in one game, if i gave swan 2 and you gave swan 3, he gets a 5 for that round).. i guess thats not very fair though since everweek we have a different number of voters...

So how did you work out the averages?

good work again,

[stoliboy]

Absolutely brilliant season Swannie!

Stuff the umpires! We love ya!

Funniest quote of the year by Mark Williams after getting thumped by the Pies and Dane Swan getting 48 possessions.

Swan’s lucky Tattslotto number comes up
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/fallout-from-the-2009-bronlow-medal-award-count/story-fn423fp2-1225777986528

And Port coach MarkWilliams said he had allowed Swan to roam free because he didn’t rate his kicking.

‘‘You can’t shut everyone down and Dane’s kicking is not as good as the others,’’ Williams said.

Swan had just three clangers in his 48 touches, including six clearances and a goal. It did not prove to be Swan’s night, but on this occasion the umpires reckoned the Pie was a lot better than OK, handing him the three.

[stoliboy]

Yeah great work David... it was fun to slowly scroll down the page to find out the eventual winner.

Great work

[David]

No worries guys.

Kingswood, I've always done it the same way - counting up the votes in each post-match thread and giving the 3-2-1 to the players who receive the most each week. So, for example, in the preliminary final voting thread, Leigh Brown received 59 votes, Shaw 53, O'Bree 44, Thomas 35 and O'Brien 31... so Leroy gets the 3, Shaw the 2, and Cheesy the 1. In the very rare occasion that two players receive the same amount of votes, I give the preference to the player who received the most best-on-grounds from posters in the thread.

It's pretty time-consuming, but its quite satisfying to get it all finished.

[loki04]

Good work David, and grats to Swanny.

[Sultan of spin]

Yes very well presented David, been looking forward to that for awhile. I think the results are an accurate depiction of the players performance throughout the season except maybe Leon was a bit low, I'd have had him 3rd.

[eddiesmith]

Great work David and well done to Swanny on winning his 3rd Gavin Brown Medal

[panga]

Brilliant work David, surprised to see Toovey didn't get a vote though!

[jack_spain]

Sure beats the Brownlow for an accurate reflection of the season. Well done Nickster's.

I

[David]

[HAL]

How did you hear about HAL? Can you tell me any gossip? Are you really a "it"?

[kambarker]

[3rd degree]

Well Done David! and to Swanny I can't believe Corrie wasn't in the mix especially against North