Sydney Swans superstar Lance Franklin has finished fifth in the voting for the AFL Players Most Valuable Player award.
Franklin finished on 291 votes behind Dustin Martin (304), Max Gawn (412), Patrick Cripps (529) and Hawthorn midfielder Tom Mitchell (773) who ran out winner.
Fresh from a record eighth All-Australian selection and being named All-Australian captain on Wednesday night, Franklin was voted among the best five players in the competition among his peers.
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 of the season. Each club’s votes are then tallied to form a nomination list comprising 54 players from across the 18 teams.
In the second round of voting, all players vote for their MVP on a 3,2,1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs.
The votes are tallied and then the player with the highest score wins the honour of MVP. Players cannot vote for their teammates in stage two of the process.
The last forward to win the award was Nick Riewoldt in 2004 making Franklin’s achievement even more remarkable in a season in which he played just 18 matches due to injury.
Young duo Isaac Heeney and Ben Ronke both rubber stamped their 2018 seasons with selection in the 22under22 side.
The brightest young stars in the competition were named as part of the side revealed during Thursday night’s awards.
Heeney made his move into the midfield this season and proved his worth and aerial ability throughout the season.
Ronke burst onto the scene in 2018 kicking 23 goals from 17 matches after making his debut in Round 6 against Geelong.
Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player
Tom Mitchell - 773
Patrick Cripps - 529
Max Gawn - 412
Dustin Martin - 304
Lance Franklin - 291
