Max Gawn winning the Brownlow would be a "triumph" for the umpires

SEN Chief Broadcaster Gerard Whateley believes Max Gawn winning the Brownlow Medal would be a “triumph” for the umpires.

The umpires, who vote on the medal, have always been criticised for favouring midfielders who win a lot of the ball with the award.

“It would be a triumph for the umpires if he did win it. You would say that they can actually see the game in its totality,” Whateley told the AFL Nation pregame show.

“I think we’ll all sit here sceptical until it happens because it hasn’t happened for such a long period of time.

“Max Gawn is the best ruckman in the competition and I sincerely hope he gets the Brownlow.”

Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney broke down what Max Gawn did so well in Melbourne’s win over the Bulldogson Saturday afternoon.

“I think the most prominent feature of Max Gawn’s ruck work is his off-hand hits,” Cooney said.

“A lot of ruckmen can get their hands on the ball, what he did so well, particularly at centre bounces, he can hit left and he can hit right and generally at centre bounces.

“Midfields don’t set up for a ruckman that can hit off-handed, so there is a quadrant of a centre bounce free a lot of the time and he just hit there, straight down to Angus Brayshaw time and time again.”

Former Richmond coach Danny Frawley believes Gawn could win the medal “easily”.

“He was Polly Farmer like yesterday, Gawn,” Frawley said.

“The hits to advantage, and that’s where the ranking points for the ruckmen are sometimes a little bit skewed, some of his hit-outs to advantage yesterday were like a possession.

“He can win the Brownlow, easily.”

Tom Mitchell is currently the favourite to win the medal, with Gawn, Patrick Cripps, Andrew Gaff and Dustin Martin behind him.

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