Key trio Dyson Heppell, Jobe Watson and Jake Carlisle have been nominated for the AFL Players MVP award, the Leigh Matthews Trophy.
Watson, Heppell and Carlisle join a list of the top names in the games nominated for the highest peer voted honour including Gary Ablett Jnr, Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield.
The Leigh Matthews Trophy proudly predented by Be the Influence will be announced on Tuesday September 10 at Peninsula, Docklands.
The MVP voting is a two-stage process beginning with each player voting for which teammate he considers to have been the most valuable in 2013.
Each club votes are then tallied to form a nomination list comprising of 54 players across the 18 teams.
The Essendon trio received the most votes from their Bombers teammates and will now be placed among the best in the competition for the prestigious award.
The AFL players then vote for their MVP on a 3,2,1 basis from amongst the nominees from the 17 other clubs with the highest score being awarded the honour of MVP.
Other awards presented on the night include the Rober Rose Most Courageous Award; Best First Year Player and Best Captain Award.
Second year defender Mark Baguley is Essendon’s nomination for the Most Courageous award after a season in which he put his bravery on display in almost every game he took to the field.
Nick Kommer’s first year at AFL level has been recognised as he received a nomination for best first year player.
Kommer managed 19 matches in his first season at AFL level after being recruited as a 22-year-old mature aged recruit.
Watson has once again been nominated for Best Captain in the league award, an honour he received from his peers in the 2012 season.
AFL Players’ Association President Luke Ball said that while the award continues to grow in stature publicly, it has always been considered one of the highest honours in the game amongst the playing group.
“As a player you strive for the respect of your peers, and unlike other awards the MVP is determined by the men who take to the field alongside you each week,” said Ball.
“Players get to see what occurs behind the scenes. From long nights on the track, to game day and the strategic work put into stopping an opposition player, so we are very well positioned to judge the Most Valuable Player in the league.
“The names that feature on the Leigh Matthews’ Trophy represent the very elite of the past 30 years, so to have your name etched alongside players you have grown up idolising would be an incredible honour for any player.”
