![]() ![]() ![]() The league had decided to strike retrospective medals for those footballers who had lost in Brownlow countbacks. ![]() The following year he would receive one of his most memorable phone calls – from the league. Periodically, they would raise the matter with the VFL, and he made another passionate plea at the 1988 VFL annual general meeting. Years later, he would say without malice: “Not meaning anything against Judkins, but comparing him with Hopkins and myself was ridiculous.”Ĭollier and the club would fight to claim his share of the medal for decades. The Argus explained: “Dr McClelland ruled that in the spirit of the rule, the medal should be awarded, but that some revision of the regulations was advisable.”Ĭollingwood was furious, and so was Collier. McClelland declared Judkins as the outright winner, as the Richmond wingman had played fewer games (12) than Collier (18) and Hopkins (15). Roberts claimed the Brownlow Medal rule stated: “The player attaining the largest percentage of votes to games played (was) to receive the award.”Īs such, VFL president Dr. On the eve of Collingwood’s first final, Richmond’s delegate, H. The Magpies would allege later that the umpire had said he intended it for “the little rover fella”. The most controversial was the one that simply read: “Collier” without differentiating between the Magpie rover/forward Harry and his bigger, defender brother Albert. Tellingly, there were three informal votes. Then, the recommendation of the permit and umpires committee recommended that there be no winner of the award for the season. There were several delays and at one stage it appeared as if the league might either award three medals, even though part of the constitution of the award determined that there could only be one winner. The Argus described the dilemma: “There has never before been a tie, and the committee will have difficulty in deciding the destination of the Brownlow Medal, which is awarded to the winner.” The 1930 medal count took place on Wednesday, September 17, with no clear resolution over how the league would resolve what ended up being a three-way deadlock, with each player receiving four votes. It was only due to Collier’s dogged determination and persistence that he was able to right a Brownlow Medal wrong almost 60 years after the fact, not just for himself, but for others who had been denied their rewards. Harry Collier watched with pride when his sibling won the 1929 medal and he was shattered when he tied for the 1930 medal with Richmond’s Stan Judkins and Footscray’s Allan Hopkins only to lose it on a countback. How that happened is a part of the rich tapestry of Australian football’s highest individual honour, and it remains one of the more heart-warming stories associated with the game. His older brother, Harry, was almost 82 when he put his Brownlow Medal around his neck. Albert Collier was only 20 when he won the Brownlow Medal. ![]()
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