Cotchin, who received six votes for his 31-disposal display against Essendon last Friday night, is 10 votes ahead of Collingwood star Dayne Beams, with Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett a further vote behind in third place.
This means that the worst result for Cotchin is a tie, which can only occur if he doesn’t poll in the Tigers’ final game against Port Adelaide, and Beams gets the maximum 10 votes in the Magpies’ Round 23 clash with Essendon. In the event of a tie, Cotchin and Beams would be declared joint winners.
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Another Tiger midfield gun, Brett Deledio, was awarded the 10 votes for his top-class performance in the Friday night victory over the Bombers, to move into equal ninth place in the award.
Evergreen midfielder Shane Tuck received six votes (along with Cotchin), Ivan Maric, three votes, Dustin Martin, two votes, and Daniel Jackson, one vote.
The AFLCA Player of the Year leaderboard after Round 22 is . . .
103 - Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
93 - Dayne Beams (Collingwood)
92 - Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
88 - Jobe Watson (Essendon)
82 - Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
82 - Scott Thompson (Adelaide)
80 - Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs)
79 - Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
73 - Brett Deledio (Richmond)
73 - Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
