Matt Rowl's brown load.

Triumph both a worthy winner and a controversial Counts League boss Andrew Dillon is here.

Locke Neil ticks off for another key session as he closes in on the most unlikely Grand Final appearance, and.

The GVP winner joins us Patrick Daingerfield has a Ford Mustang to collects before leading Geelong into the Premiership decider.

We've talked about is this step into it?

Debrace all hit in the room and reason it's unedifying for a senior coach to do that.

They're on the side of Courtia with the brain tape.

The man on they played the best footy.

I've ever seen at the start of the season and injury said president left the cup over said, of course they do.

Is the stuff that legends are made of.

What is holding the ball?

I don't think I could answer it clearly right now that I could do something.

Wrong, you know, and I need to get on the board sex.

Meet the fans, lover and with no fans, no through sixty year old.

I suppose this consolations go Matt, I didn't do too bad.

He missed the mustang but got Charlie.

Yeah no, and deservedly so.

Well done to Matthew.

His mum on that happy because I think she thought we spoke to a very tired Matthew.

This morning and he spun his mark that when we start talking about the car, he said, Mom, and her eyes all over it.

You can't put the seat covers on the metal.

This big cannot put it.

He's going to have to hold the seat covers for another for another year.

You're right about Patrick Cribbs next year.

I've got to run my multi past year before I put it on line.

Was a really clear vicious with George here and over Patrick Cribbs.

But it was an interesting night, that's for sure.

It was.

So we've got big duties tonight.

The Ford Mustang is back out the front of the Fox building.

Do you think Patrick Dangerfield was aware.

I think he might have.

I know damn well he was, because he caught my eye as I was in there waiting to do post game.

Once he saw in heah, you reckon.

I think it occurred to him.

Probably it's stage late in the quarter of the last quarter of things.

I'm a damn good chance to win that magnificent vehicle right there.

So Andrew Berkish has brought this back to us that was here right at the start of the season and it's back out the front tonight.

Well, it's going to look good down at Bob's Creek, just driving along that great Ocean road.

It is a magnificent vehicle.

It's gone to a magnificent footballer here and so we couldn't be happier.

And Andrew's going to join.

Us, all right, So Ford Australia's President and the chief Executive to join us with Patrick Dangerfield in our second break.

Andrew Dillon to join us at the desk.

And the coach of the Year has been announced during this hour and he will join us in the immediate aftermath the midweek tackle.

There is so much news happening at the moment in the trade space, in the President's space.

So Lauren Wood, John Ralph and Corbyn Middleness immediately after us.

Tomorrow night's our Premiership pairing Adam Simpson and John Longmire with a look towards this year's decided the Grand Final.

Lumpires will join us in Mark Knight, it's always a great review when he brings his posters in the two possibilities?

Does he leaves them.

Here because there's a collector's item, does have you got a non winners.

Are tucked away somewhere for a rainy day and the Superannuation f and then our special on Thursday night.

Just Dunkley is committed to come and join us at the death.

Simon Goodwin is going to be here, Toby Green and Just Revold as we build out.

Of us shapes is a beauty, A nice way to finish off the lead.

Into the Grand Final.

All right, let's get into the agenda.

At the top of it's the league's chief executive Andrew Dillon to join us at the desk with the issues as they present in Grand Final week, and one of those is the place of the modern Brownlow Medal.

Two things can be true as once Matt Row was the most worthy winner last night, and by the end we had all manner of controversy.

Saints better God of Tituscores wagon, Emilie has gone a full forward.

Oh my god, oh my god, look us.

Start he step minutes what Seculda, n Wangon and Hiller up two boats?

Melbourne and Jay Bidy three boats says.

But if you're going to say there was one game that got three votes, that would be in the top handful with it.

Gold Coast m Row three votes, Gold Coast m Row three votes, Gold Coast m Row three votes, Gold Coast m Row three boats.

I probably wasn't expecting that sort of start, so yeah, probably can't have to switch on a bit after that.

Gold Coast m Row twenty boats and I declare.

The winner of the twenty twenty five Browlow Medal Matt Raw of the Gold Coast Suns.

There was a surreal feeling being up there, you know, as a kid, like watching the brown Low and seeing seeing players.

Up there, and.

I don't know, it was very peach me sort of moment you do a dream of maybe, you know, winning a brown Law something.

Like that one day.

I don't play for individual honors really like win a premiership one day.

That's what you played for.

But I'm very honored to win this prestigious award and very humbled.

The best and fairest and the worst of Brownlow Night all wrapped into one.

The Premiership cover has arrived with a boss anddraw doing great tab on the program.

Thank you for having me on, Jared Good See Gary.

You've got to talk together, slow down lift.

It was very really landed by ten twenty eight.

Salute to you as the early work was worth it.

I was listening to the producer in the year.

I was just trying to get my time into.

He did it well because it didn't start to laugh at ete.

Yeah, rounded up by ten thirty.

Yeah, just on ten thirty.

Yeah, take Andrew.

What would you say about Winner?

Oh, he's a super player.

He's he's had a great year and he's the sort of player I think Richard mentioned in his speech.

He won five competition bns as a junior, so he's obviously someone who's attracted the umpire's attention for most of his career.

That was a bit.

I love gazz He loves footy so much.

He spoke, he loves his boots, He eats the grass like he is the kid who would have slept with his footy and all the way through and he was almost destined from it.

From when he starts his career with three three three in games two, three and four and then he has interruption, he gets diverted along the way.

He's always caught the eye.

No, I think he's a spectacular player.

He really is.

I mean I had the right to vote with our award and he was right there, and I just love how courageous he is.

I love how single mined he is.

And it doesn't surprise me that he catches the eye of the umpire because and he's added that breakaway stuff to his game as well.

We've always known him as this inside animal that is as competitive as anyone, but he's added this different element this year, I think, and that would be even more eye catching, would you.

And if you go back to his first three games, all that second, third, and fourth where he did have that and the injuries.

But yeah, he's been a super.

Player, so's he's not in any way a controversial winner.

The aspect is the concentration of votes thirty nine after last year's forty five?

Are you on alert for that?

Look, it's a topic and it's come up last year and certainly this year.

But I mean, ultimately, the brand Low is the umpire's award, and we will go to the umpiring group like we did last year.

There's a bit of talk about, you know, should they have access to stats the leadership group last year and the umpires were comfortable as it is, but we'll have a chat with them in the off season again.

But I think as you said, like, no one could argue with Matt as the Brown leaw melist of this year and Patrick the year before.

Do you think to maintain the reverence of the award it has to hold up in the modern context where you can troubleshoot the votes the moment that they land and see the fault lines within them.

Yeah.

Look, it's a really good point, Jered.

But it's I said in the speech last night.

It's one hundred and one years old.

The umpires have been part of it.

But absolutely we have to continue to progress.

And if that's access to stats, if that's the thing that helps that, well then we certainly have a look at it.

Do you worry that it is being held up to ridicule to some degree?

And so I've been going to Brownlows since Robert Harvey won his first and I think people are sort of in and out of the count.

The moment where Wangony Miller didn't get through, I've never experienced that before.

That was a moment of ridicule, I thought for the Brown Line.

I mean, I've been to twenty of Brown Lows myself.

Yes, that was one, but you know, maybe that was just one out of the box.

I think it's the highest individual accolade.

There was one and a half million people who watched it last night, and we're talking about it now and did he's still a super prestigious so well.

I agree with that.

It matters to us.

That's why it was debated so fiercely today.

But it will only hold as the game's most prestigious award if it's an accurate reflection of what's taking place of the field.

On the field, I think that's the balance point at the moment.

If you don't give the umpires all the information that all of us had, I think it's the equivalent of playing pin the tail on the donkey with a blindfold on, and the award it won't sustain if it's held up to ridicule year on year on year.

Yeah, I mean, I think you're picking one game out of two hundred and seven for more.

I would lay out some of the patricks, but actually we can look at if we look at the top ten, it actually pretty much reflects, albeit with little changes in terms of the Coaches Award, the Players Award, and most of your media awards as well.

I think in this age and era that we live in, everyone's got access to the immediate access to be able to review these things.

I think this has been going on for years and years and years, and it is what you get with the vagaries of having an umpire put in charge.

I think the stats are a must.

I'm interested to know.

I would be interested to know why the leadership group said that they didn't need them.

I think that's something that has to be addressed and should be afforded to the umpires.

But I have no issue with the fact that there are these different challenges because we've got enough awards and umpires see things differently to you and me and coaches or players and everyone else, and that is the uniqueness of this award.

It's up to us to allocate how much prestige we want to put on these awards.

I still have it right there, but I have the coaches, and I have the GV.

GV the players, not the GV that'll carry the players award and a GV, So I don't have an issue with it at all.

And I read an article in the Held Sun just recently and they picked a part the Goods, Buckley and Rastudo Awards and they highlighted three games you just were every bit of staggering, as these guys are not getting votes anyway, I think that stats have to happen, and I would like to know why they're not.

Haven't looked at it.

So what chance the umpires will see some version of stats next year?

Well, as I said, that's a conversation we'll have in the off season.

But you know, we're not We're not.

We're not deaf to the opinions of those that matter.

The official memorabilia is now available hand signed by Matt rowlofficial memorabilia dot com dot au to celebrate The Sun's second Brownlow Medal.

Did you have any trepidation around Bailey Smith last night, who's a very different cap It's fair to say.

Yeah, he's an interesting super player, interesting guy, interesting in shades.

He's probably about the only person in the room who could pull those shades off.

But yeah, look, he told really well fed in the brown Low and he's got a big day on Saturday, and I know he's really looking forward to that.

All right, I'll look back to a little bit of what happened on Saturday.

So the Jamie Elliott Free Kick had our coaches last night at counterpoints as to what they thought this should have been a free or not.

I actually thought it was a pretty pretty good spoil.

There was an incredible effort.

I could see how they could pay it though at the.

Same time he made contact front on with a player trying to mark.

The ball, and so in my view that's a free kick.

Is it a free kick?

Well, I think that conversation actually looks at it.

I reckon you can look at it on after replay, after replayer, maybe have a different conversation.

We think the umpire from the position he was in, he made a call that was certainly the right call.

So if that happens again on Saturday, would we expect the same call of play on?

I think if you've got the umpire in that position with that happening, absolutely that.

Wouldn't be how it's been with respect how it's been adjudicated this year.

I think that free kicks paid ninety eight times out of one hundred throughout the course of this year.

Yeah.

Well, I mean I don't know whether the ones happened exactly like that where he did get the ball.

It was and you know we're watching it now it in super slow mode.

I love it, but I'm appreci it was a judicated like that, and I say, like on the night, I straight away thought that would be one that would normally be paid, but we were comfortable with where it landed and a great winter the Lions.

Jamie Elliott's other moment was to take the Mark of the Year.

I think we sort of had this discussion last year and didn't get any action.

Are you contemplating putting the mark and the goal of the year all the way through the season rather than ending at the home and away season?

Well, I mean I think when you look at it, you know, and the finals, we've got our best players playing on the biggest stages.

I think if it's not if you don't extend it out for the whole season, there might be considerations for that.

I think having something that acknowledges what goes on in the finals for the mark and the goal is something that's certainly begin our contemplation.

The Mark of the Year should be the course of the AFL year.

What about the GVP, Yeah, it goes through the All round final.

Yeah.

I thought he's just awarded it.

Well, no one can win.

At the end of round twenty two last night, I.

Was like, yeah, okay, fair enough, read out next week's quickly.

Then, Yes, the Essendon side of things, are you moditoring what's happening with the president stepping down today and handing over to Andrew Welsh.

Yeah.

I spoke to Dave barn this morning.

He's he's done a great job for the Bombers.

Four years in charge and been on the board for a while.

It's made some big changes there and now they've got a Andrew Welsh, former player, really successful businessman who's been on the board for a while.

He'll take the reins Now.

They've got a big trade period coming up, in a big draft coming up, so they've got rebuilding to do.

But I've got you know, I know Andrew, with Craig Vozo, Brad Scott, we've got the right people there.

But you know, Dave has done an incredible job for the Bombers.

Will you want to alert for a board challenge that was massing around Essendon and maybe this calms the horses a bit.

Look, I'd only heard what people had spoken about in the media.

I hadn't heard anything official.

I know that Dave knew that he was coming in as an agent of change and there was going to be a time period on how long he was going to be there for.

They sit in and they have not group at the moment, so there was a bit.

There's a bit of a democation at least top seams in bottom and it impacted the way from our point of view as broadcast as towards the back half of the year, we had a lot of upsided games.

Thankfully, the final series is magnificent.

Are you concerned about the gap that is emerging?

Not concerned, Gary, but it's certainly something that we're acutely aware of.

We did have that top nine bottom nine, very different from the two seasons before.

What we did see this year though, was adelaide go from fifteenth to minor Premiers.

We had the Gold Coast make the finals for the first time ever.

We had free oh for only the second time in about ten years.

So we are seeing hubs move up and down the ladder.

I think some of those clubs that we're outside the top nine, you know, the Swan's lots of injuries, the Bombers have never seen.

You haven't seen an injury lease like that for a while.

What we are really cannot concerned about be keeping nineties.

Those clubs that are down the bottom and are staying down the bottom.

And that's something that's taking up a bit of our attention at the moment because we want our fans.

Fans want to have hope, and you want to be able to go to You want to go into a season having hope, and you prefer to be going in every weekend with a bit of hope.

Do you think the equalization measures are working?

So we just had their graphic up of what the likely gains of the Brisbane lines that GEO long are going to be through free agency.

Do you worry that equalization is not having the effect that you would expect.

Well, I think what we are seeing is that there are clubs that are incredibly well run and they've got programs that players want to go to.

And then we've got the three measures for equalization.

We've got the access to talent, whether it's free agency, trade or draft.

We've got the salary cap, and then we've all got the soft cap.

And the clubs that can work at the best and make the best decisions, they're the ones that are sort of defining gravity, like the way the Lions have for the last few years.

Also like the Cats.

You know, Chris Scott's record is incredible in his time there, so certainly something that we're watching.

But yeah, again, we'll just continue to keep an eye on it.

I might have missed this, so the West Coast League has have put a request in first systems.

Have you ruled on that yet?

That's been assessed at the moment.

Met with Don Pike this afternoon and we'll have a we'll have an announcement on that early next week.

The Tom Stewart concussion has brought into fierce focus the pre finals by the potential for the pre file Grand Final by which people have advocated for some time.

So we both have have personal views on that.

What is your view right now?

Well, I think the first part is, you know Tom Steward got a concussion last week.

I hope he's recovering.

Well.

I think they're conflating someone having to miss a minimum of twelve days because of the concussion protocols with the preliminitent of after the preliminary finals isn't something that I buy into.

I think if we decided that that was the best way to build up to the Grand Final, then I'm all for that.

The unfortunate thing and it's going to be Tom's going to be unfortunate this year.

Lucky Neil may or may not get up.

We have unfortunately players miss grand finals because of injuries, so we can't legislate or we can't schedule our way around that.

Since we bought in the pre finals by and had that week off as it's allowed us to have great flexibility with Round twenty four.

It's allowed us flexibility with the Thursday night finals, and we've actually seen our top eight become a true top eight.

So clubs that don't make the top four if they play well have got the ability to make prelims and grand finals.

Under the previous iteration.

Before that pre finals by, I think we only ever had one or two teams from outside the top four make a prelimb.

So are you comfortable with the way so those patterns have altered quite remarkably and quite obviously.

Are you comfortable with that how they have altered?

Yeah?

Look I am.

I think what it has done is actually really builds up those our nine finals in our final series just to be every single game an absolute event and with a lot riding on it.

And yes, I want a top eight to be a top eight.

There's advantages for being first, there's an advantage for being second, third and fourth you get the double chance, fifth and sixth you get the home final.

So there is differences in the ladder, but you still want to finish on top if you can.

Where does that leave the world card weekend?

Yeah, well that's a good question because we are looking at and if we're talking about hope for fans, games of consequence, because that's what our fans want.

Potentially expanding a top eight to be a version of a top ten or top nine is something that we're going to look at in the offseason.

And again one of the things that would be a big consideration is that how does that How much would that alter what we have had, which have been some incredible finals series in the last ten years.

So you don't sound like a pre Grand final by guy?

Is that a fair read?

I think that's a fair read.

But I said, but it's something that you know, you've got to take all the data in and get the feedback.

But as I sit here now, I think to move from where we have been, it's a big decision.

Tribunal is sitting tonight, which had Hawthorne qualified, would have been the biggest story of the week.

So let's join David Zena.

David, Welcome, Hello, Jered, Gary Andrew.

How has Marby or Choll fanned.

He's fared very well.

He's free to play at the start of next season.

So the dangerous tackle bands we've seen upheld at so many tribunals over the journey not the case this time.

Now, the key differentiating factor for the tribunal in this case was Sam Butler's involvement.

Now there's a tangle of legs, and Sam Butler's involvement causes this tackle to become a bit different to those that we've seen in the past.

Now, Paul Curtis's.

Tackle was brought up as evidence in one regard.

Now the tribunal had regard to that, but said the circumstances of Paul Curtis's.

Tackle did not change mid tackle.

The circumstances of Marbi or Choll's tackle did change mid tackle because of the involvement of Butler, and there was insufficient time for him to do anything other than what he did, So the hawk said it wasn't rough conduct.

Mabi or Tchrol didn't give evidence, but he did argue via Hawthorne that there was.

A tangling of legs that contributed to this.

The nature of this tackle to roll allbeit late, but the tribunal was very steadfast, Jeff Gleason saying, the reason this one isn't dangerous and isn't unreasonable in the circumstances is because of how it changes due to Sam Butler's involvement.

So that's the key differentiator here with other dangerous tackles we've seen, the Paul Curtis one mainly, which was brought up as well by both parties in the deliberation.

So ultimately MABI or chold free to play at the start of twenty twenty six.

David, thank you.

That is the system working well, the two arms of it.

What do you think of that verdict?

Well, I think David explained it well.

I was comfortable that the MRO made the charge, but I think having the ability to argue the case and have it assessed comfortable with where it's landed.

But again, I mean I think that the thoughts are really with Tom Stewart making sure that he recovers from that concussion.

The primary final four point thirty five fifteen start sunsetting magnificent bit of daylight into halftime, but at nighttime.

Was ass beautiful.

Yeah, look, it was a great weekend of footy.

We have to look at these pictures here Andrew.

This this is a showcase of our game.

No one had ever looked at more pictures on Fox Sport under that game what happens at this time slot.

Yeah, it was a great game.

It was an incredible weekend.

Nearly nearly one hundred thousand on Friday night and then followed up it was an amazing weekend of footy.

And then you know, I think we have over one hundred thousand again this weekend for the Grand Final.

So could you see a Grand Final looking like that?

Oh look, you sort of never say never, but you know, we've got a day Grand Final this year.

It'll be crowded, over one hundred thousand.

It'll be the highest rating show on TV in Australia for the year.

Snoop Diggie dogged like that.

The sun going down over the back.

Snoop will pretty good today actually in the daylight as well, kicking he's kicking his goals and meeting Josh and Nick there.

But when Joe sit down with him, you get to spend a bit of time with the double G.

I think I might be seeing you on Thursday.

You got all this lingo down pad or what.

I might have to get some lessons from you guys.

But yeah, you seem like you're with it.

There's not a bad jag from yeah Snoopstone.

He kicks the one around the corner as well, and what are you expecting?

I know it's been well debated and that's okay.

Everyone's got their opinion.

Is there any degree of trepidation?

No, look, there's not.

I mean he's performed at the super Bowl, he's performed at the Olympics.

He's a global icon and he's really buying into it.

And I think he'll put on a show.

It won't necessarily be to everyone's tastes, but that's not a bad kid.

It's magnificent, But he will.

I think you'll put on a great show, and I think you'll bring a new audience to our game.

Did you do you have to?

Okay?

The playlist.

I'm not a big music man, so I.

Don't really look not me, but we're aware of what the playlist is and I think there'll be some songs that most people recognize.

Andrew, great to have you with us, thank good laughing by yeah, thanks so much for having me on other week ahead.

Andrew Dillon, the chief executive of the AFL about to join us.

Patrick Dangerfield, Geelong captain with a big days ahead on Saturday, and he is.

The innormural winner of the GVP.

The Fort hierarchy is here to award the Mustang to date