The best Eagle in 2014 ? - depends on how you measure things

Eric Mackenzie was chosen as the Eagles top player for 2014, despite Matt Pridis winning the AFL highest award, the Brownlow.

Different voting systems favour different styles of play, Umpires votes favour spectacle and involvement in the play, with midfielders scoring better. On the other hand, the club voters may know the real contribution to a game plan, for example recognising a defender who has nullified and important opponent.
New coach Adam Simpson and the Eagles match committee slightly modified their voting system this year, Instead of a consensus match committee vote, now each of the five members contributes one, two or three votes - a potential total of 15 votes for a player for each game. This will reward consistency, and recognise defensive play.
Discussion of the merits of different voting systems adds to the interest of the game, and with all the complexities of the game, the system will never be perfect.
In farming, complexity is perhaps even greater, and annual bench-marking of farm data is published which discusses the "fairest and best" - characteristics of the top 25 per cent of businesses. Like judgments about who is the top footballer, such discussion about the most successful farm business needs to be tempered by recognition of what you are trying to measure.