Following Thursday night’s AFLPA MVP ceremony, Mike Sheahan and Garry Lyon are perplexed that Patrick Dangerfield was ineligible for the award.
Each playing group nominates three players from their own team for the award, with the Geelong players choosing Mark Blicavs, Tom Hawkins and Tim Kelly.
This meant Dangerfield was not eligible to win the Leigh Matthews Trophy, won by Carlton’s Patrick Cripps.
While Lyon believes Cripps was without question a worthy winner, he doesn’t like Dangerfield’s ineligibility.
“On the week that the Geelong coach declared Paddy Dangerfield the best player in the competition, his teammates didn’t deem him in the three most valuable in his own team, let alone the competition,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s my personal opinion that the credibility then suffers. Take nothing away from Patrick Cripps who could easily have beaten him anyway.
“You couldn’t say they mucked it up. The most courageous player was Dylan Grimes, no argument. The best first year player was Sam Walsh, no argument. The best captain Shannon Hurn, no argument. The best player Patrick Cripps, no argument.
“It’s just strange and the anomaly is that Patrick Dangerfield, who is clearly in the best half a dozen in the competition, you weren’t able to vote for him.”
Sheahan questions whether the players take the award seriously enough.
“I must say, I thought it was a joke initially that Dangerfield wasn’t eligible to win the MVP,” he said.
“The players, should they have this responsibility? I mean, I criticised them two years ago when Taylor Walker was voted the captain of the year two years running and clearly should not have been.
“Do they treat it seriously enough? Put Patrick Cripps to one side.”
Cripps won the award from Dangerfield’s teammate in Tim Kelly, while Lachie Neale came in third place.