Sydney Swans midfielder Josh Kennedy has moved into outright second place in the race for the 2014 AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award.
After failing to poll votes in the opening two rounds of the season, Kennedy has collected votes in the last seven games and is now just 11 votes behind Gold Coast Suns captain Gary Ablett, who leads the competition with 55 votes.
Kennedy polled a perfect ten for his best on ground performance in last Friday night’s 50-point win over the Bombers, with the midfielder collecting 39 touches - 22 that were contested – as well as ten clearances, five tackles and one goal.
Lance Franklin was the Swans’ next best player, with the forward attracting seven votes for his dominant performance up forward, which saw him kick five straight goals and take eight marks, while Craig Bird’s 31-possession performance against Essendon earned him six votes from the coaches.
Co-captain Kieren Jack also attracted five votes for his 32-possession game, while Dan Hannebery (one vote) and Luke Parker (one vote) took out the minor votes.
Essendon vs Sydney Swans
10 Kennedy (Syd)
7 Franklin (Syd)
6 Bird (Syd)
5 K. Jack (Syd)
1 Hannebery (Syd)
1 Parker (Syd)
Round 9 Leaderboard
55 Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
44 Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
39 Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
38 Joel Selwood (Geelong)
35 Nathan Fyfe (Fremantle)
35 Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
32 Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
32 Nathan Jones (Melbourne)
31 Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
30 Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
Swans Leaderboard
44 Josh Kennedy (polled in 7 games)
22 Luke Parker (5)
21 Dan Hannebery (3)
20 Lance Franklin (4)
17 Kieren Jack (4)
12 Ben McGlynn (4)
12 Jarrad McVeigh (3)
6 Nick Malceski (2)
6 Craig Bird (1)
5 Dane Rampe (2)
5 Rhyce Shaw (2)
3 Nick Smith (1)
