Liam Picken is the unlikely hero of the Western Bulldogs’ finals campaign and also the unlikely leader of The Roar’s AFL Finals MVP award at this early stage.
Picken has come alive in September footy booting five goals across two matches and is the only player in our count to have picked up votes in both weeks.
A best-on-ground showing against the Eagles last week, combined with a single vote this week, has him at the head of the leaderboard with four in total.
Joel Selwood, Stephen Coniglio, Marcus Bontempelli and Josh P Kennedy all have three votes behind him and are live in the race for the title. Brodie Smith also has three votes but, after the Crows’ season ended on Saturday, is out of the running.
Bontempelli and Kennedy as mentioned both have three votes to their names thanks to best-on-ground performances this weekend.
The other players to receive votes were Clay Smith with two for the Dogs, and Tom Papley and Lance Franklin with two and one respectively against the Crows.
Smith played a vital role in the Bulldogs’ upset win over the Hawks, and his performance was made all the sweeter because of the difficult times he has endured with injury on the way there.
Papley and Franklin each booted four goals in the Swans’ win over the Crows, which put to an end a streak of four straight losses in finals dating back to the 2014 decider.
Who will come up with the votes on the weekend to come? Geelong vs Sydney and GWS vs the Bulldogs both loom as thrilling matches.
For now, see the votes from this week below, and click here for last week’s votes.
Hawthorn Hawks 84 defeated by Western Bulldogs 107
Blogged by TomC
3 – Marcus Bontempelli
2 – Clay Smith
1 – Liam Picken
Sydney Swans 118 defeated Adelaide Crows 82
Blogged by Sam Walker
3 – Josh P Kennedy
2 – Tom Papley
1 – Lance Franklin
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