Speculation last week on the potential winners of the 2016 Leigh Matthews Trophy proved pointless when the award was announced this week and the Geelong Cat’s Patrick Dangerfield got the respect he deserved. He received 1369 votes from the jury of his peers in the AFLPA, over 900 beyond the 443 votes his teammate Rory Sloane drew.
He appears poised to repeat Nat Fyfe’s double from last year, when Fyfe added the Brownlow Medal two weeks after claiming the MVP award from the other player. He has been a fixture atop the voting list for the Charlie during his last four seasons with the Adelaide Crows.
A quick look at CrownBet seems to confirm that he is the prohibitive favourite to take the Brownlow, other than for the fact that the adjective prohibitive seems to lack the appropriate degree of strength.
A $100 wager on his fortunes will pay only $125. The Richmond Tigers’ Dustin Martin, who finished one spot behind Dangerfield last season, is a distant second in the odds at $13.
Last year’s winner, Nat Fyfe, is barely on the screen, as his season was ended prematurely after five games. Your $100 on him would make you richer by $500,000, but you would do better, if backing a longshot were your desire, to back the 2014 winner Matt Priddis at 101.
