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Snap Shot is a weekly column taking a look at the lighter side of football.

There has been plenty of debate about the awarding of votes by umpires and how they head off on tangents and aren’t influenced by statistics in making their decisions on who is awarded the three votes.

However, Snap Shot has done an audit of medal winners announced post-game in 2023 (awards mostly voted on by the media and ex-players) such as the Anzac Medal, the Glendinning-Allan Medal, the Bob Rose-Charlie Sutton Medal, the Marcus Ashcroft Medal, the Ian Stewart Medal, the Yiooken Award, and the Showdown Medal, and guess what?

Nick Daicos won the Anzac Day Medal in 2023 and went on to finish third in the Brownlow count.Credit: AFL Photos

By magnificent coincidence, the umpires awarded three votes to the same person who won the award announced on the night in every instance we could find.

Of course, on many occasions, the player considered best on ground by those in the stands would have been obvious to those on the ground, but 15 out of 15 awards is a pretty good strike rate. After all, who would blame the umpires for looking for cues somewhere before awarding the votes? Equally, there is no proof that any of the umpires took any of that into account.

But the round three Showdown medallist – a decision that created huge controversy when the judges awarded the medal to Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson when most observers thought Izaak Rankine and Riley Thilthorpe were more deserving – stuck to the script. On Brownlow night it was Jordan Dawson: three votes.

Given the obscure nature of some awards and the way some come and go, Snap Shot might have missed one but, regardless, this insight might be a good betting guide in the future. As always though: Gamble responsibly.

2023 medal winners, and the three Brownlow votes for that game

Round 3: Showdown Medal winner – Jordan Dawson (three Brownlow votes)
Round 3: Glendinning-Allan Medal – Caleb Serong
Round 6: Anzac Day Medal – Nick Daicos
Round 6: Peter Badcoe Medal – Connor Rozee
Round 10: Yiooken Award – Zach Merrett
Round 10: Marcus Ashcroft Medal – Lachie Neale
Round 11: Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal – Chad Warner
Round 13: Neale Daniher Trophy – Jack Viney
Round 14: Ian Stewart Medal – Tim Taranto
Round 17: Bob Rose-Charlie Sutton Medal – Nick Daicos
Round 20: Glendinning-Allan Medal – Lachie Schultz
Round 20: Showdown Medal – Taylor Walker
Round 20: Marcus Ashcroft Medal – Touk Miller
Round 20: Richard Pratt Medal – Charlie Curnow
Round 20: Silk-Miller Medal (a player from each team) – Brad Crouch*
*James Worpel won the award as Hawthorn’s best player and did not get a vote.

Take me to the River. It’s closer than getting home country roads

Brisbane Lions speedster Charlie Cameron so often gets the Gabba rocking after he kicks a goal as the crowd sings in full-voice the John Denver classic Take Me Home, Country Roads.

But Cameron’s music education took another leap forward on Monday when a journalist complimented him at the Lions’ open media day on wearing a T-shirt featuring legendary soul singer Al Green.

Charlie Cameron will be an exciting player to watch on grand final day.Credit: AFL Photos

Cameron made everyone laugh when he admitted he actually thought he was wearing a T-shirt sporting famous boxer “Sugar” Ray Leonard. Cameron promised he would give Green a listen on the way home in the car. Snap Shot would have loved to have found a spot in the back seat for that car trip.

Now, it would be a radical move – akin to a band not playing their hits at a concert – but could we hear Take Me Home, Country Roads replaced with Take Me to the River after a Cameron goal in 2024.

A train(ing) drill

If you think Collingwood and the Giants were working hard during the last quarter of Friday night’s preliminary final, spare a thought for those in the security control room at the MCG.

With 10 minutes remaining in the game, the potential of a tie forcing the game into extra time became a distinct possibility to those in the room, which included not only MCC staff but also Metro Trains, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria representatives.

Metro Trains began to consider implementing the extra-time plan, which means rescheduling trains or having extra trains available at Jolimont and Richmond post the finish of the match so footy supporters could leave the area safely on public transport.

So, not only did Steele Sidebottom hold Collingwood’s premiership hopes in his hands when he took a chest mark on the goal line with minutes remaining – rather than spoiling the ball through for a behind – he also determined the immediate fate of Metro Trains and commuters on a balmy Friday night.

On the coach’s whiteboard

Before you go, here are …

Five key lines Snap Shot believes North Melbourne used in their desperate attempt to convince Ben McKay to stay at the Kangaroos.

North Melbourne defender Ben McKay wants to join Essendon.Credit: Getty Images and archives

They said …

“You never know how the umpires are going to vote,” – Lachie Neale after winning his second Brownlow Medal.

But they forgot to say …

“You never know how the umpires are going to vote, except in Lions games, as I’ve polled in 52 of the 99 home and away matches I have played for the club.”

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