James Hird wins the 1996 Brownlow Medal!

hirdjs2.jpg - 6.4 KJames Hird capped off a terrific year by sharing Brownlow Medal honours with Brisbane's Micahel Voss. He polled a total of 21 votes, including four best on ground performances. There was controversy too, as North's Corey McKernan also polled 21 votes but was ineligible due to a one-match suspension incurred earlier in the year. James received seven votes from the last three rounds to catch up to Voss to tie for the prestigious award. The final leader board was quite congested, with Nathan Burke and Chris Grant on 20 votes, Gary Hocking on 19, Paul Salmon on 18 and a host of other players on 17. Winning the Brownlow Medal was a fitting end to s subperb year for James, although he said himself he'd rather have the chance at another premiership next week. He looks certain to take out his third Essendon best and fairest award in a row in less than two weeks time, and at 23 has already achieved champion status. Congratulations James on an outstanding performance. Mark Mercuri was the Dons second highest vote winner, although he was ineligible for the award because of his suspension during the season. 13 out of the 22 games had Essendon players receiving best on ground, and the players polled a total of 72 votes out of a possible 132, which is just over half, at 54.5%. Below I've listed the Essendon players who received votes, and then below that is a round by round analysis for each Essendon home and away game. 

Player			3	2	1    Total
J Hird			4	4	1      21
M Mercuri		1	2	2	9
J Misiti		2	0	0	6
G Wanganeen		1	0	1	4
G O'Donnell		0	1	2	4
P Somerville		1	0	0	3
D Bewick		1	0	0	3
B Doolan		1	0	0	3
S Denham		1	0	0	3
M Lloyd			1	0	0	3
M Harvey		0	1	1	3
C Cockatoo-Collins	0	1	0	2
M Symons		0	1	0	2
S Cummings		0	1	0	2
C Daniher		0	0	1	1
D Fletcher		0	0	1	1
D Calthorpe		0	0	1	1
R Olarenshaw		0	0	1	1
TOTAL		       13      11      11      72

Round by Round

Round 1 v. Richmond		Round 2 v. Carlton
3 - J Misiti			3 - G Williams (Carl)
2 - J Hird			2 - M Sexton (Carl)
1 - J Charles (Rich)		1 - A Koutoufides (Carl)

Round 3 v. West Coast		Round 4 v. Adelaide
3 - P Somerville		3 - A Jarman (Adel)
2 - C Cockatoo-Collins		2 - D Pittman (Adel)
1 - J Hird			1 - D Jarman (Adel)

Round 5 v. Collingwood		Round 6 v. Sydney
3 - S Russell (Coll)		3 - J Hird
2 - T Francis (Coll)		2 - T Lockett (Syd)
1 - M Mercuri			1 - S Grant (Syd)

Round 7 v. Geelong		Round 8 v. Footscray
3 - D Bewick			3 - J Hird
2 - J Hird			2 - S Cummings
1 - G O'Donnell			1 - C Daniher

Round 9 v. Melbourne		Round 10 v. St Kilda
3 - M Mercuri			3 - R Harvey (St K)
2 - M Harvey			2 - M Mercuri
1 - B Lovett (Melb)		1 - G O'Donnell

Round 11 v. Fremantle		Round 12 v. North Melbourne
3 - B Doolan			3 - D King (NM)
2 - S McManus (Fre)		2 - D Crocker (NM)
1 - Q Leach (Fre)		1 - G Wanganeen

Round 13 v. Hawthorn		Round 14 v. Fitzroy
3 - J Hird			3 - S Denham
2 - S Crawford (Haw)		2 - M Symons
1 - D Fletcher			1 - D Calthorpe

Round 15 v. Brisbane		Round 16 v. Richmond
3 - C Lambert (Bris)		3 - J Misiti
2 - A Fletcher (Bris)		2 - M Mercuri
1 - M Voss (Bris)		1 - M Merenda (Rich)

Round 17 v. Carlton		Round 18 v. West Coast
3 - S Silvagni (Carl)		3 - M White (WCE)
2 - A Kichmott (Carl)		2 - D Kemp (WCE)
1 - M Harvey			1 - D Banfield (WCE)

Round 19 v. Adelaide		Round 20 v. Collingwood
3 - M Lloyd			3 - S Russell (Coll)
2 - G O'Donnell			2 - J Hird
1 - T Modra (Adel)		1 - R Olarenshaw

Round 21 v. Sydney		Round 22 v. Footscray
3 - G Wanganeen			3 - J Hird
2 - J Hird			2 - C Grant (Foots)
1 - T Luff (Syd)		1 - M Mercuri
[Current Info...] [From the Archives] [Club Info...]
[Other Stuff...] [EFC Home Page]