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'What a joke': AFL world explodes over 'moronic' travesty

andrew reid
·4-min read
On the right, Collingwood's Brody Mihocek takes a sensational mark and Richmond's Shai Bolton with a similar one on the left.
Collingwood star Brody Mihocek's grab was voted as the Mark of the Week ahead of Richmond's Shai Bolton. Pic: Getty/Fox Sports

A controversial move to snub Richmond's Shai Bolton for the AFL's Mark of the Week has left fans outraged.

Bolton sent the internet into meltdown over the weekend with a grab that many declared would win Mark of the Year, despite occurring in just round eight.

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The 22-year-old launched himself off the shoulders of the much taller Mark Blicavs, propelling him into the air well above a pack of players contending for the footy.

The incredible incident was captured in a series of still photos that showed just how much higher Bolton managed to get, compared to the rest of the pack.

However, due to the nature of the fan-voted system, Bolton was sensationally overlooked in favour of Collingwood's Brody Mihocek.

The Pies forward was nominated after polling 50.8 per cent of the vote, with Bolton receiving 41.2 per cent.

As exceptional as Mihocek's mark against the Kangaroos was, the consensus from many experts was that it was still only the second-best mark of the round.

However, fan power won the day and Collingwood's legion of supporters certainly helped get their man over the line.

Bolton still in contention for Mark of the Year

Despite missing out on Mark of the Week honours, Bolton will still likely be in contention to win the big award at the end of the year, with five other marks added to the weekly winners - totally 28 nominations in total.

Fans will then vote again for their favourite mark out of those 28, with the most popular three chosen by an AFL Game Analysis Committee on a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 vote.

A Mark of the Year is then determined based off the committee's 10 selections, plus one by public voting.

The award used to be decided solely by fans but was changed after the 2017 Brownlow night, when Jeremy Howe controversially lost out to Joe Daniher.

Regardless, Bolton's round eight snub certainly sparkled backlash across the AFL community.

Richmond great Matthew Richardson tweeted: “With all due respect to Brody, this wasn’t mark of the week. I reckon he would even agree with that.”

It was a sentiment shared by many supporters on social media, with even some Collingwood fans admitting that Bolton was robbed.

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