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Brownlow fancy Adam Cooney says someone might “do a Bradbury” this season and land the AFL’s most prized individual award because other contenders fall out of the race.
The Western Bulldogs’ 22-year-old is second favourite behind Geelong gun Gary Ablett in Brownlow betting.
A host of AFL stars have already been ruled ineligible for the award after committing reportable offences, including Hawthorn pair Lance Franklin and Sam Mitchell, Sydney’s dual winner Adam Goodes, West Coast’s Daniel Kerr and Port Adelaide’s Chad Cornes.
It prompted Cooney to suggest the medal count might end up as a last man standing affair.
“The winner might do a bit of a Steven Bradbury with everyone falling over this year, so we’ll have to wait and see,” Cooney said, referring to the winner of Australia’s first Winter Olympics gold medal in 2002.
Cooney, the 2003 No.1 national draft pick will play his 100th AFL match against Collingwood on Sunday.
It is only this season, with both he and the Bulldogs flying, that he has fully justified his top draft ranking in the eyes of many spectators.
But Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said he had been unfairly judged in the past.
“He’s carried a bit of pressure with him, young players who get the No.1 draft tag obviously do,” Eade said.
“I think he got unfairly treated a bit last year by the media, because he didn’t have a pre-season, he didn’t run until February and he finished fifth or sixth in our best and fairest.
“He played some bad games, but he had some terrific games and I thought he was really starting to show his wares last year.
“He’s had a good pre-season under his belt and he’s starting to show his true form.”
But Cooney said the critics were no harsher than his own self-assessment.
“I’ve been in the system, four years it was last year, and I wasn’t performing as consistently as I should be, so that was a pretty fair assessment, I thought,” he said.
While improved fitness and greater consistency have brought with them the weight of Brownlow expectations, Cooney said he was not feeling any added pressure.
“It’s still a long way to go and I try not to take too much notice of that sort of stuff,” he said.
“It’s only a distraction when you get asked about it in the media and stuff like that.
“I suppose I can just keep doing what I’m doing, keep playing my role in the team and that’s what matters.”
Eade doubted the increasing attention would shake the focus of his young star.
“He’s a fairly laid back character and he’s not big on the media side of things … I think he’s one guy that’s not going to get fazed by it,” he said.
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