FROM a statistical point of view, Chris Judd's Brownlow triumph should not have come as a surprise.
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In his first triumph in his West Coast glory days, he averaged 22 touches a game and kicked 24 goals in his first Brownlow year in 2004.
This year he had an average of 27 touches a game, a career best, while also slotting 14 majors.
There's no doubting Judd is a worthy winner of Charlie in that regard.
While he wasn't the best player this season, that's an honour that surely has to go to Dane Swan, he did what was important in winning the Brownlow, he caught the umpires
attention.
But, as he admitted in the victory speech last night, Judd was lucky to still be in contention.
His swinging elbow to the head of Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich, who was behind Judd attempting to lay a tackle, in round 13 surely should have signalled the end of his Brownlow
charge.
Sure, Judd had spent the night being harassed by Dockers' tagger Adam McPhee, and probably thought it was McPhee behind him at the time, but that didn't justify his actions.
It was an incident that should have been dealt with by the Match Review Panel, but wasn't, with the reasons given that the ``contact was below that required to be a reportable
offence''.
Pavlich ended the night with five staples under his right eye after his cheek was cut open.
Go figure.
Imagine if the owner of that elbow was Stevie Baker or Dustin Fletcher. They would have certainly got weeks.
Which was something that Judd got when he eye-gauged Brisbane's Michael Rischitelli in last year's finals series. This prior record meant if any charge had come the way of the
Carlton skipper a holiday was a big possibility, or he would have got enough points to make him ineligible.
The match review panel and tribunal could have made a statement that it doesn't matter who you are, you can't let your frustrations get the better of you.
But they didn't and Judd won the Brownlow.
It's as simple as that.
I love watching Judd play and rate him as the equal best player I have seen (with Gary Ablett senior, Wayne Carey and James Hird).
He is more than deserving of the title of being a two-time Brownlow medallist, but it has to remembered that Charlie number two was delivered with just a little bit of luck.