Congratulations to Johnny Warren Medal winner Thomas Broich – but for the first time in a long time, no individual stood ahead of the rest as previous winners have.
Congratulations to Thomas Broich, winner of the Johnny Warren medal 2012. The German follows Carlos Hernandez and Marcos Flores and the third consecutive import (fourth, if you count Shane Smeltz) to be named the Hyundai A-League Player of the Year.
The last Australian player to do so was Joel Griffiths in 2007/08. But it-s been a particularly tough year for the awards judges; for the first time in a long time, no individual player has stood clearly ahead of the rest, in the way that recent winners have done.
There-s no doubt Broich has been outstanding, when fit- but is he your pick for the player of the year, especially after missing 10 games through injury?
Eighteen games, two goals, seven assists – these stats clearly don-t illustrate the German-s full worth to Brisbane but, still, are these what you expect of a Johnny Warren Medal winner?
His influence on Brisbane Roar has been obvious this season, as the grand finalists record unbeaten run coming to end, and the slump the denied them a second successive Premier-s Plate, coincided with Broich-s injury.
But was Broich that much more important to his team than, say, Paul Ifill to Wellington Phoenix or Patrick Zwaanswijk to Central Coast?
Both of these must have in close contention, along with perhaps Perth Glory-s Liam Miller and Melbourne Heart-s Fred, who was recently named captain of the PFA Team of the Year.
In the other major categories, was Canberra United midfielder Sally Shipard-s contribution was rated better than teammate and Golden Boot winner Michelle Heyman, who scored 12 goals in just 10 games? That-s a fantastic strike rate, whichever league you-re in.
And was Mariners keeper Mat Ryan the best pick for NAB Young Player of the Year for the second year running?
What about Gold Coast United-s impressive crop that included the likes of James Brown and the highly sought after Ben Halloran? Or the excellentAziz Behich and Eli Babalj at Melbourne Heart?
It-s a positive sign for the standard of the domestic game when the problem is picking the best from a great bunch – but that doesn-t mean the judges got it right.
Do you agree with them or do you think the major awards should have gone elsewhere? Have you say below…
