AFL umpires have been accused of checking their phones for statistics before casting Brownlow Medal votes.
The Herald Sun reported on Thursday that there are further integrity issues enveloping the Brownlow with accusations that some members of the officiating fraternity disobey rules by launching the AFL Live app to check match stats prior to lodging their 3-2-1 votes.
This is in stark contrast to other major awards in the code which gives voters access to stats in order to make informed decisions.
With this report in mind, Kane Cornes can’t understand why umpires aren’t able to gather information before allocating their Brownlow votes.
“The Herald Sun has been all over this umpiring-Brownlow situation,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“They have speculated without any real evidence, it’s more a hunch that the umpires have been checking the stats on the AFL app on their phones after the match, which is not usually the done thing.
“The umpires come in after the game, don’t have any access to stats, they put in their Brownlow Medal votes and then they’re given their phones back after they were locked up for the game.
“The question I’ve got is - Norm Smith Medal voters and Showdown Medal voters all have access to the stats - should umpires have access to the stats before they put in their Brownlow Medal votes?”
Cornes, who was an All-Australian selector for the first time last year, firmly believes that denying umpires access to stats simply makes their already difficult job much harder.
“There’s two schools of thought, because every other award you’ve got access to the stats,” he added.
“Even the Coaches’ Award, they have an extra 24 hours and also have access to the footage before they cast their votes. That’s a significant award to win.
“The All-Australian selectors have access to every sort of stat you can possibly imagine, but is it unique that the Brownlow Medal doesn’t have stats?
“My view would be that we’ve just made it impossible for the umpires.
“The rules change all the time, it’s a really tough game to adjudicate and then after that you’re required to put your 3-2-1 in without any stats on what is the most prestigious award to win in the game.”
The Brownlow Medal is already under investigation for suspicious betting activity relating to stood-down umpire Michael Pell who officiated more than 10 matches in which questionable bets were laid.