Nathan Buckley calls for key Brownlow change as AFL's shock move against umpires revealed

Nathan Buckley has called for the AFL Coaches Award to replace the Brownlow Medal as the most prestigious individual honour in the league, amid new revelations the umpiring group were denied in their request to be given stats and data before casting their votes. Patrick Cripps' victory with a record total of 45 votes on Monday night has re-ignited debate around whether the Brownlow system needs an overhaul.

Cripps and Nick Daicos (38 votes) both broke the previous record of 36 - set by Dustin Martin in 2017 and Ollie Wines in 2021. And while no one is denying Cripps had a fantastic season, he certainly didn't have the greatest season in AFL history as the votes would suggest.

Calls have been mounting for years to take the Brownlow voting off the umpires, or to give them access to stats before they cast their votes. As it currently stands, the officials simply go off their "feel" to determine who gets the 3, 2 and 1 votes for each game.

And staggering new reports have come to light that a group of senior umpires were denied when they requested the AFL allow them access to key data that would help them cast Brownlow votes. According to the Herald Sun, the AFL has blocked requests from umpires to change the system and make their job easier.

“I can reveal tonight that the AFL umpires – their senior leadership group - actually went to the AFL last year and this year and said: ‘We want Champion Data stats. Not to poll our votes, but just to instruct us as a safeguard,'" Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy on Tuesday night.

“The AFL umpires believe they are nailing the brief (on who to vote for) … but when you’re running 12 kilometres a game, you’re going to make some clangers, you’re going to say that someone like Harrison Petty was best afield for 13 possessions, which is clearly wrong."

Ralph was referring to the fact that Petty got three votes in Melbourne's game against Geelong in Round 8, even though he clearly wasn't best on ground. It was just one instance of votes raising eyebrows during Monday night's count.

There was an example of Nick Daicos getting one vote that was clearly meant for brother Josh, while Cripps was afforded two votes after a game in which he was ranked 11th best on ground in the Player Ratings system. Cripps got three votes in three games that Carlton lost, and fans were perplexed that Marcus Bontempelli was completely ignored in multiple games.

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AFL boss responds to calls for Brownlow Medal change

Discussing the situation on Wednesday, AFL boss Andrew Dillon said the league won't be making wholesale changes to how the Brownlow works. However he admitted the league could be open to providing key data to umpires in the future.

"I don't really get caught up too much in the number of votes awarded," Dillon said. "The Brownlow Medal's been around for 100 years ... we've got no plans to change the 3-2-1 (system) and we've got no plans to change the umpires awarding the fairest and best player.

"We trust our umpires implicitly. They are professional, elite athletes (and) incredible decision-makers. In relation to the stats, it's something that we look at at the end of each year.

"We spoke to the umpiring group at the end of last season and the consensus from the umpires was that they were comfortable making the calls on the 3-2-1 without access to statistics. Again, at the end of the year we'll review all the rules and regulations."

Nathan Buckley wants more focus on AFL Coaches Award

Bontempelli was named player of the year by his peers in 2024, while Nick Daicos won the AFL Coaches Award. And according to Collingwood great Buckley, there needs to be a change of thinking that the Brownlow is the pre-eminent individual honour in the AFL.

According to Buckley, the Coaches Award should be recognised as the most prestigious in the AFL - not the Brownlow. "I don't know how to go about it," he said on SEN radio. "And you don't want to wind down from the Brownlow, but I suppose in some manner you would need to.

"We need to shift the focus and significance to be more about the people in the game who would know most about the influence of certain players on a result. And that is the coaching group. Patrick Cripps is a worthy winner of the Brownlow, but I think the focus needs to shift."