Comparing a club best and fairest count to the Brownlow Medal voting will always throw up some interesting anomalies.
With a new system introduced this season, North Melbourne players could poll up to 20 votes per game - a change from previous seasons, which were played under a 5-4-3-2-1 structure.
If a player polled 15 or more votes in the Syd Barker Medal, he was clearly rated as one of the best on the field by the North coaching staff. However there were instances when the umpires thought differently.
The same situation also happened on the other side of the equation, with the three field umpires rating a Roo highly, but the same player polled fewer than 15 Syd Barker votes.
Here is the complete comparison between the Syd Barker and Brownlow Medal.
15 or more Syd Barker votes with no Brownlow nod
- Jack Ziebell (Round 2, 10)
- Robbie Tarrant (Round 4)
- Lachlan Hansen (Round 7)
- Ben Jacobs (Round 12, 19)
- Ben Cunnington (Round 15, 19, 21)
- Lindsay Thomas (Round 19)
- Andrew Swallow (Round 21)
- Robbie Tarrant (Round 22)
Fewer than 15 Syd Barker votes, with Brownlow nod
- Andrew Swallow (Round 4, 15, 20)
- Lindsay Thomas (Round 6)
- Brent Harvey (Round 6, 17)
- Drew Petrie (Round 7, 20)
- Shaun Higgins (Round 15, 18)
- Jack Ziebell (Round 16)
- Ben Brown (Round 16, 17)
- Todd Goldstein (Round 18)
- Nick Dal Santo (Round 19)
Round 2 v Brisbane
Syd Barker
20 – Todd Goldstein
18 – Jarrad Waite
15 – Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington
Brownlow
3 – Jarrad Waite
2 – Ben Cunnington
1 – Todd Goldstein
Round 3 v Port Adelaide
Syd Barker
15 – Andrew Swallow
Brownlow
3 – Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide)
2 – Andrew Swallow
1 – Matthew Broadbent (Port Adelaide)
Round 4 v Geelong
Syd Barker
17 – Todd Goldstein
15 – Sam Wright, Robbie Tarrant
Brownlow
3 – Todd Goldstein
2 – Andrew Swallow
1 – Sam Wright
Round 6 v Richmond
Syd Barker
14 – Lindsay Thomas
Brownlow
3 – Anthony Miles (Richmond)
2 – Lindsay Thomas
1 – Brent Harvey (eight Syd Barker votes)
Round 7 v Essendon
Syd Barker
17 – Jack Ziebell
15 – Lachlan Hansen
Brownlow
3 – Jack Ziebell
2 – Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
1 – Drew Petrie (14 Syd Barker votes)
Round 10 v West Coast
Syd Barker
17 – Shaun Higgins
16 – Jack Ziebell
Brownlow
3 – Sharrod Wellingham (West Coast)
2 – Shaun Higgins
1 – Matt Priddis (West Coast)
Round 11 v Sydney
Syd Barker
16 – Todd Goldstein
Brownlow
3 – Luke Parker (Sydney)
2 – Lance Franklin (Sydney)
1 – Todd Goldstein
Round 12 v GWS Giants
Syd Barker
18 – Todd Goldstein, Jamie Macmillan
16 – Nick Dal Santo, Ben Jacobs
Brownlow
3 – Todd Goldstein
2 – Jamie Macmillan
1 – Nick Dal Santo
Round 15 v Geelong
Syd Barker
16 – Ben Cunnington
15 – Todd Goldstein
Brownlow
3 – Andrew Swallow (13 Syd Barker votes)
2 – Todd Goldstein
1 – Shaun Higgins (13 Syd Barker votes)
Round 16 v Essendon
Syd Barker
20 – Todd Goldstein
Brownlow
3 – Todd Goldstein
2 – Jack Ziebell (14 Syd Barker votes)
1 – Ben Brown (13 Syd Barker votes)
Round 17 v Brisbane
Syd Barker
16 – Drew Petrie
Brownlow
3 – Drew Petrie
2 – Brent Harvey (12 Syd Barker votes)
1 – Ben Brown (9 Syd Barker votes)
Round 18 v Carlton
Syd Barker
15 – Jack Ziebell
Brownlow
3 – Jack Ziebell
2 – Shaun Higgins (14 Syd Barker votes)
1 – Todd Goldstein (11 Syd Barker votes)
Round 19 v Melbourne
Syd Barker
17 – Shaun Higgins
16 – Ben Cunnington
15 – Todd Goldstein, Ben Jacobs, Lindsay Thomas
Brownlow
3 – Shaun Higgins
2 – Todd Goldstein
1 – Nick Dal Santo
Round 20 v St Kilda
Syd Barker
14 – Andrew Swallow, Drew Petrie
Brownlow
3 – Drew Petrie
2 – Leigh Montagna (St Kilda)
1 – Andrew Swallow
Round 21 v Fremantle
Syd Barker
15 – Ben Cunnington, Andrew Swallow
Brownlow
3 – Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle)
2 – Todd Goldstein (10 Syd Barker votes)
1 – Brent Harvey (14 Syd Barker votes)
Round 22 v Western Bulldogs
Syd Barker
16 – Robbie Tarrant
Brownlow
3 – Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
2 – Luke Dahlhaus (Western Bulldogs)
1 – Lachie Hunter (Western Bulldogs)
