Three quarters was all that was needed for Dale Thomas to poll a maximum 10 votes in the AFLCA champion player of the year voting for his performance in the 117-point win over North Melbourne.
Both Mick Malthouse and Brad Scott agreed Thomas was best on ground in 69 minutes of game time after accumulating 26 disposals and kicking three goals before he was subbed for Alex Fasolo.
Numbers don’t always mean everything with Scott Pendlebury’s 29 disposals polling seven total votes, while Dane Swan’s game-high 39 disposals and two goals received just four votes.
Also polling four votes each, Steele Sidebottom (four goals) and Jarryd Blair’s (three goals) offensive efforts were acknowledged in the absence of injured forward Chris Dawes.
Rounding out the voting was defender Leon Davis, who polled one vote with 22 disposals, one goal and holding Leigh Adams goalless. The North Melbourne forward was dangerous the week before booting three goals in the narrow loss to St Kilda.
Thomas’ perfect 10 has launched him to the top of the club leaderboard and now sits in seventh position in the overall league.
Past winners of the prestigious award include Swan (2010), Gary Ablett Jnr (2007-09), Simon Goodwin and Adam Goodes (joint winners in 2006), Barry Hall (2005) and Warren Tredrea (2004).
Collingwood v North Melbourne voting
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dale Thomas | Coll |
| 7 | Scott Pendlebury | Coll |
| 4 | Dane Swan | Coll |
| 4 | Jarryd Blair | Coll |
| 4 | Steele Sidebottom | Coll |
| 1 | Leon Davis | Coll |
Collingwood leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year (number of matches the player polled)
| Votes | Player |
|---|---|
| 42 | Dale Thomas (5) |
| 40 | Dane Swan (6) |
| 38 | Scott Pendlebury (8) |
| 32 | Travis Cloke (7) |
| 16 | Chris Dawes (3) |
| 15 | Heath Shaw (4) |
| 14 | Steele Sidebottom (2) |
| 13 | Jarryd Blair (9) |
| 12 | Sharrod Wellingham (2) |
| 12 | Ben Reid (2) |
| 12 | Leon Davis (4) |
| 11 | Luke Ball (3) |
| 8 | Ben Johnson (2) |
| 7 | Harry O'Brien (3) |
| 6 | Andrew Krakouer (3) |
| 6 | Chris Tarrant (4) |
| 4 | Dayne Beams (1) |
| 4 | Leigh Brown (1) |
| 2 | Darren Jolly (1) |
| 1 | Simon Buckley (1) |
Leader board for the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year
| Votes | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 73 | Marc Murphy | Carlton |
| 58 | Matthew Boyd | Western Bulldogs |
| 58 | Ryan O'Keeffe | Sydney |
| 56 | Chris Judd | Carlton |
| 55 | Sam Mitchell | Hawthorn |
| 54 | Daniel Wells | North Melbourne |
| 48 | Dale Thomas | Collingwood |
| 47 | Nathan Fyfe | Fremantle |
| 47 | Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood |
| 46 | Ryan Griffen | Western Bulldogs |
