Ben Johnson was unanimously judged best on ground by the two competing head coaches in Saturday night’s 54-point Collingwood win over the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium.
The second oldest player on the list collected 33 disposals, five marks and two goals in just his second game in the senior side after returning from injury through the VFL. Both Mick Malthouse and Guy McKenna awarded Johnson a maximum 10 votes in the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year competition.
Magpie vice captain Scott Pendlebury’s good run has continued with the star midfielder polling six votes after 34 disposals and two goals. Pendlebury, 23, has now earned votes in his last five games and has polled the most (60) for his side this year.
Luke Ball’s 27 touches, seven tackles and two goals only featured in one of the head coach’s votes with the midfielder receiving four.
Rounding out the Magpie voting was Leon Davis (32 disposals and six marks) who polled two votes from one head coach and has now featured in the votes in six matches this season.
For the Gold Coast Suns, captain Gary Ablett’s game-high 36 disposals earned six votes while Nathan Bock’s work on Travis Cloke and Trent McKenzie’s two goals both received one vote.
Past winners of the prestigious award include Swan (2010), Gary Ablett Jnr (2007-09), Simon Goodwin and Adam Goodes (joint winners in 2006), Barry Hall (2005) and Warren Tredrea (2004).
Collingwood v Carlton
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Ben Johnson | Coll |
| 6 | Scott Pendlebury | Coll |
| 6 | Gary Ablett | GC |
| 4 | Luke Ball | Coll |
| 2 | Leon Davis | Coll |
| 1 | Nathan Bock | GC |
| 1 | Trent McKenzie | GC |
Collingwood leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year (number of matches the player polled)
| Votes | Player |
|---|---|
| 60 | Scott Pendlebury (11) |
| 55 | Dale Thomas (7) |
| 42 | Travis Cloke (9) |
| 40 | Dane Swan (6) |
| 21 | Leon Davis (6) |
| 19 | Luke Ball (5) |
| 18 | Ben Johnson (3) |
| 16 | Chris Dawes (3) |
| 15 | Heath Shaw (4) |
| 14 | Steele Sidebottom (2) |
| 14 | Ben Reid (3) |
| 13 | Jarryd Blair (2) |
| 12 | Sharrod Wellingham (2) |
| 7 | Harry O'Brien (3) |
| 6 | Andrew Krakouer (3) |
| 6 | Chris Tarrant (4) |
| 4 | Dayne Beams (1) |
| 4 | Leigh Brown (1) |
| 2 | Darren Jolly (1) |
| 1 | Simon Buckley (1) |
Leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 79 | Marc Murphy | Carlton |
| 70 | Chris Judd | Carlton |
| 63 | Daniel Wells | North Melbourne |
| 61 | Sam Mitchell | Hawthorn |
| 60 | Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood |
| 58 | Gary Ablett | Gold Coast |
| 58 | Matthew Boyd | Western Bulldogs |
| 58 | Ryan O'Keefe | Sydney |
| 57 | Nathan Fyfe | Fremantle |
| 55 | Dale Thomas | Collingwood |
