Tom Rockliff, Pearce Hanley, and Stefan Martin have been selected by their teammates as the Brisbane Lions’ nominees for the Leigh Matthews Trophy – presented to the 2014 AFL Players’ MVP.
A total of 54 players have been nominated – three from each AFL club – to win the prestigious award that is decided by their peers, the players.
The MVP voting is a two stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three teammates he considers to have been the most valuable this season.
Then, in the second round of voting, all AFL players vote for their MVP on a 3-2-1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs. The votes are tallied, and the player with the highest score wins the honour of MVP.
The winner will be announced on Tuesday 9 September in Melbourne.
Rockliff, Hanley and Martin were obviously held in the highest esteem by their teammates.
Although not surprising, Martin’s inclusion in the group of Lions nominees is quite remarkable considering he missed the opening half of the season with a back complaint.
His impact in the final 11 rounds, however, was significant.
Other Lions players nominated for AFL Players awards include: Joel Patfull (Most Courageous Player), Lewis Taylor (Best First Year Player), and Jed Adcock (Best Captain).
The full list of nominees are listed below:
Leigh Matthews Trophy nominees
DANGERFIELD, Patrick (Adelaide)
SMITH, Brodie (Adelaide)
THOMPSON, Scott (Adelaide)
HANLEY, Pearce (Brisbane)
MARTIN, Stefan (Brisbane)
ROCKLIFF, Tom (Brisbane)
GIBBS, Bryce (Carlton)
MURPHY, Marc (Carlton)
YARRAN, Christopher (Carlton)
BEAMS, Dayne (Collingwood)
PENDLEBURY, Scott (Collingwood)
SIDEBOTTOM, Steele (Collingwood)
GODDARD, Brendon (Essendon)
HEPPELL, Dyson (Essendon)
HOOKER, Cale (Essendon)
BALLANTYNE, Hayden (Fremantle)
FYFE, Nathan (Fremantle)
SANDILANDS, Aaron (Fremantle)
HAWKINS, Tom (Geelong)
SELWOOD, Joel (Geelong)
TAYLOR, Harry (Geelong)
ABLETT, Gary (Gold Coast)
PRESTIA, Dion (Gold Coast)
SWALLOW, David (Gold Coast)
MUMFORD, Shane (Greater Western Sydney)
TRELOAR, Adam (Greater Western Sydney)
WARD, Callan (Greater Western Sydney)
BRUEST, Luke (Hawthorn)
GUNSTON, Jack (Hawthorn)
LEWIS, Jordan (Hawthorn)
DUNN, Lynden (Melbourne)
JONES, Nathan (Melbourne)
TYSON, Dom (Melbourne)
CUNNINGTON, Ben (North Melbourne)
GREENWOOD, Levi (North Melbourne)
HARVEY, Brent (North Melbourne)
BOAK, Travis (Port Adelaide)
GRAY, Robert (Port Adelaide)
SCHULZ, Jay (Port Adelaide)
COTCHIN, Trent (Richmond)
MARTIN, Dustin (Richmond)
RANCE, Alex (Richmond)
DELANEY, Luke (St Kilda)
HAYES, Lenny (St Kilda)
RIEWOLDT, Nick (St Kilda)
FRANKLIN, Lance (Sydney)
KENNEDY, Josh (Sydney)
PARKER, Luke (Sydney)
DAHLHAUS, Luke (Western Bulldogs)
LIBERATORE, Thomas (Western Bulldogs)
MURPHY, Robert (Western Bulldogs)
KENNEDY, Josh J (West Coast)
MACKENZIE, Eric (West Coast)
PRIDDIS, Matt (West Coast)
The Robert Rose Most Courageous Award
SLOAN, Rory (Adelaide)
PATFULL, Joel (Brisbane)
SIMPSON, Kade (Carlton)
MAXWELL, Nick (Collingwood)
AMBROSE, Patrick (Essendon)
SPURR, Lee (Fremantle)
SELWOOD, Joel (Geelong)
SWALLOW, David (Gold Coast)
WARD, Callan (Greater Western Sydney)
HODGE, Luke (Hawthorn)
CROSS, Daniel (Melbourne)
GREENWOOD, Levi (North Melbourne)
LOGAN, Tom (Port Adelaide)
RANCE, Alex (Richmond)
DEMPSTER, Sean (St Kilda)
McGLYNN, Ben (Sydney)
MORRIS, Dale (Western Bulldogs)
PRIDDIS, Matt (West Coast)
Best First Year Player
CROUCH, Matt (Adelaide)
TAYLOR, Lewis (Brisbane)
JOHNSON, Blaine (Carlton)
LANGDON, Tom (Collingwood)
MERRETT, Zach (Essendon)
APERNESS, Michael (Fremantle)
LANG, Darcy (Geelong)
LEMMENS, Sean (Gold Coast)
KELLY, Josh (Greater Western Sydney)
HARTUNG, Billy (Hawthorn)
KENNEDY-HARRIS, Jay (Melbourne)
MCDONALD, Luke (North Melbourne)
IMPEY, Jarman (Port Adelaide)
LLOYD, Sam (Richmond)
DUNSTAN, Luke (St Kilda)
JONES, Zac (Sydney)
BONTEMPELLI, Marcus (Western Bulldogs)
SHEED, Dom (West Coast)
Best Captain, presented by L’Oreal Men Expert
VAN BERLO, Nathan (Adelaide)
ADCOCK, Jed (Brisbane)
MURPHY, Marc (Carlton)
PENDLEBURY, Scott (Collingwood)
WATSON, Jobe (Essendon)
PAVLICH, Matthew (Fremantle)
SELWOOD, Joel (Geelong)
ABLETT, Gary (Gold Coast)
DAVIS, Phil (Greater Western Sydney)
WARD, Callan (Greater Western Sydney)
HODGE, Luke (Hawthorn)
GRIMES, Jack (Melbourne)
JONES, Nathan (Melbourne)
SWALLOW, Andrew (North Melbourne)
BOAK, Travis (Port Adelaide)
COTCHIN, Trent (Richmond)
RIEWOLDT, Nick (St Kilda)
JACK, Kieren (Sydney)
McVEIGH, Jarrad (Sydney)
GRIFFEN, Ryan (Western Bulldogs)
GLASS, Darren (West Coast Eagles)
