Gerard Whateley and Kane Cornes have gone through Sunday night’s Brownlow Medal and what they felt was right and wrong about the count.
Both agreed that Lachie Neale was the right choice as winner and also agreed that Channel 7 did the best they could with the broadcast given the circumstances.
Read their thoughts from SEN’s Whateley below:
What they got right
Whateley: “I think Channel 7 and the AFL in difficult circumstances produced an excellent broadcast. I don’t think you could do any better given the circumstances that we had and from where it might have been with the Zoom count, I thought they did a superb job.”
Whateley: “Matt Rowell got his hat-trick of threes. I was so reassured by that. That’s how we felt in real time, that he had nine Brownlow votes.”
Whateley: “A big shout out to umpires Ryan, Mollison and Gianfagna who in Round 7 gave three votes to Harris Andrews, so well done, they found the All-Australian defender as best on ground once.”
What they got wrong
Cornes: “I agree with you, I thought Channel 7 did an excellent job, but someone had to present Lachie Neale with his Brownlow. Chris Fagan or someone, a teammate, he had to present his own Brownlow Medal. Maybe it was because of social distancing, but I doubt it because I saw pictures of Neale’s wife was arm in arm with Fagan. They had to get the coach to present Neale with his Brownlow, it was an awkward moment.”
Whateley: “Simon Black was in the room, a previous Lions Brownlow Medallist, I thought he would present it to Neale and then it didn’t happen.”
Whateley: “Nic Naitanui only getting five votes … he got 12 from the AFLCA by comparison and 16 in the Herald Sun. He got five. I’m not sure how you’re missing Nic Nat.”
Whateley: “I don’t really understand why the Brownlow was last night instead of Monday night.”