Eddie Betts has surprised absolutely nobody by claiming his second consecutive Goal of the Year award.
All the wash-up from the 2016 Brownlow Medal:
» Patrick Dangerfield wins the Brownlow
» Who got the most votes for your team?
» Red carpet photos and dress ratings
» WATCH: Majak Daw wins mark of the year
» Re-live the night with our live blog
» The full leaderboard
» Every vote
With the award being announced at the Brownlow Medal night in Melbourne, Betts beat out North Melbourne’s Shaun Atley and Sydney’s Lance Franklin to take home the Goal of the Year.
Betts had been smacking in spectacular goal after spectacular goal during the 2016 season, but it was his outstanding boundary-line effort against the GWS Giants in Round 11 at the Adelaide Oval which caught the eye of AFL fans around the country.
After a long kick up the line had been spoiled towards the boundary, Betts somehow kept the ball in play before gathering the Sherrin despite being hemmed in by a couple of GWS defenders.
Betts then raced away from his two pursuers before unleashing a superb curling snap which split the big sticks, the goal helping the Crows to a convincing win against the Giants.
Betts’ effort was considered the pick of the three nominated efforts, courtesy of Lance Franklin and Shaun Atley.
Atley’s major came early in North Melbourne’s win against Richmond, with the Kangaroo receiving a handball after a dropped mark from teammate Drew Petrie before curling a precise banana kick from tight in the right pocket.
While Atley’s contender was all about precision, then Franklin’s was all about brute force.
With Sydney attempting to close out the Hawks in the fourth quarter of their clash at the MCG, Franklin received the ball in the centre square with plenty of grass between him and the goal. But, despite being closer to the centre circle than the 50-metre line, Buddy wheeled onto his left foot and unloaded, taking advantage of the empty goalsquare and sealing the Swans’ win over their rivals.
But neither of Atley’s or Buddy’s efforts were considered good enough to top Betts at the top of the pile for the best goal of 2016, giving the Crows star small forward his second straight Goal of the Year gong.
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