Seven votes to Adelaide vice-captain Rory Sloane has closed the gap between the competition and leader Ollie Wines in the 2017 Shadforth Financial Group AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award.
Wines and second-placed Dustin Martin failed to poll a vote and extend their lead over the competition in Round 4, while Sloane shot to equal second spot following his 34 disposals, eight clearances and nine tackles in the win against Essendon on Saturday night.
Wines collected 19 disposals in the Power’s loss to the Giants, while Martin was reduced to 16 touches in the Tigers’ win thanks to Mitch Robinson’s tagging job on Sunday — for which Robinson received one vote from the coaches.
Six votes to West Coast’s Elliot Yeo and three votes to Geelong skipper Joel Selwood resulted in the duo jumping to equal fourth place, while Adelaide captain Taylor Walker leapt into the top 10 following his eight votes against the Bombers.
Three players received maximum votes for their Round 4 efforts, including West Coast’s Luke Shuey (30 disposals), Fremantle’s Lachie Neale (22 touches and four goals) and Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch (seven goals).
LEADERBOARD
24 – OLLIE WINES (PA)
23 – DUSTIN MARTIN (RICH)
23 – Rory Sloane (Adel)
21 – Joel Selwood (Geel)
21 – Elliot Yeo (WC)
20 – Clayton Oliver (Melb)
20 – Luke Shuey (WC)
19 – PATRICK DANGERFIELD (GEEL)
19 – Marc Murphy (Carl)
18 – TRENT COTCHIN (RICH)
18 – ZACH MERRETT (ESS)
18 – Taylor Walker (adel)
AFL Coaches’ Association votes for Round 4:
West Coast v SYDNEY
10 Shuey (WCE), 6 Yeo (WCE), 5 Kennedy (Syd), 3 Cripps (WCE), 3 Gaff (WCE), 2 Hurn (WCE), 1 Kennedy (WCE)
NORTH MELBOURNE V Western Bulldogs
9 Dahlhaus (WB), 8 Cunnington (NM), 4 McLean (WB), 3 Bontempelli (WB), 3 Suckling (WB), 2 Brown (NM), 1 Murphy (WB)
Melbourne v fremantle
10 Neale (Frem), 7 Mundy (Frem), 4 Fyfe (Frem), 3 Oliver (Melb), 2 Blakely (Frem), 2 Weller (Frem), 1 Petracca (Melb), 1 Salem (Melb)
gws v port adelaide
9 Scully (GWS), 8 Patton (GWS), 7 Haynes (GWS), 3 Shiel (GWS), 2 Boak (PA), 1 Mumford (GWS)
carlton v gold coast
10 Lynch (GCS), 7 Matera (GCS), 6 Ablett (GCS), 3 Martin (GCS), 3 Murphy (Carl), 1 Hall (GCS)
adelaide v essendon
9 Betts (Adel), 8 Walker (Adel), 7 Sloane (Adel), 3 Smith (Adel), 2 Laird (Adel), 1 Colyer (Ess)
collingwood v st kilda
9 Ross (StK), 5 Geary (StK), 5 Roberton (StK), 4 Webster (StK), 3 Adams (Coll), 2 Howe (Coll), 1 Billings (StK), 1 Grundy (Coll)
brisbane lions v richmond
8 Riewoldt (Rich), 5 Grigg (Rich), 5 Martin (BL), 4 Castagna (Rich), 4 Rockliff (BL), 3 Astbury (Rich), 1 Robinson (BL)
Hawthorn v geelong
8 Duncan (Geel), 5 Motlop (Geel), 5 Tuohy (Geel), 4 Hodge (Haw), 3 Hawkins (Geel), 3 Selwood (Geel), 2 Guthrie (Geel)