Just a week after terrorising Melbourne at the MCG, Dane Swan has done it again, and has been rewarded by Nathan Buckley and Carlton caretaker coach John Barker in the process.
Swan’s career averages against Melbourne are some of his highest and he produced a fine 36-disposal performance against the Demons over a week ago.
Yet in his celebrated 254-game career, Swan has played even better against Carlton and he was out to prove this once again at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
The 31-year old had a remarkable 41 disposals against the Blues, including six clearances and three second half goals.
In the eyes of the media, Swan was clearly best-on-ground and the coaches agreed, awarding him a maximum ten votes in the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award.
Carlton’s Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps earned eight and five votes respectively for their roles in the midfield, while Magpies duo Scott Pendlebury and Alex Fasolo rounded out the voting.
Pendlebury equalled his season-high disposal tally with a hard-working 37 touches, as Fasolo presented Collingwood’s most dangerous option in the forward line with four goals.
Swan’s last month has been nearly flawless at time when many would predict his career should be slowing down.
Since his 250th game against Port Adelaide on July 9, the 2011 Brownlow Medallist has been everywhere.
He has collected 164 disposals at an average of 32.8, had 35 clearances and produced his best goalkicking performance of the year with three majors on Saturday.
More notably, he is racing up the leaderboard on the AFLCA Player of the Year award.
While Pendlebury remains Collingwood’s leader and sits seventh in the AFL with 60 votes, ten votes to Swan now means he has 40 locked away for the season.
The top of the AFL leaderboard appears stagnant after round 19. Neither leader Nat Fyfe (Fremantle) nor second-placed Dan Hannebery (Sydney) polled votes in their respective matches on the weekend.
Collingwood v Carlton
10. Dane Swan (Collingwood)
8. Marc Murphy (Carlton)
5. Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
5. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
2. Alex Fasolo (Collingwood)
Leaderboard after round 16
100. Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
85. Dan Hannebery (Sydney)
70. Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne)
67. Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
65. Matt Priddis (West Coast)
65. David Mundy (Fremantle)
60. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
AFLCA Votes: Swan dominates again
Nathan Buckley and John Barker couldn't ignore Dane Swan on the weekend as the champ had a season-high 41 disposals at the MCG against the Blues.