NORTH Melbourne coach Darren Crocker has conceded star midfielders Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell could take votes off each other and deny the Roos a maiden AFLW Best and Fairest award.
The League's best player will be crowned at the W Awards on Monday night, with Garner and Riddell among the leading contenders.
The star midfielders were typically prolific in Saturday's preliminary final win over Port Adelaide, with Garner having 25 disposals, eight clearances, six tackles and a goal and Riddell finishing with 27 disposals and five clearances.
"I would have thought that Jasmine would have been rewarded with that already, but we know what an unbelievable player she is," Crocker said.
"I've said before she's a generational player, and Ash is pushing up right behind her.
"They might take votes off each other.
"You would think that would hold them in good stead, having won all those games, but who knows?
"I know that they wouldn't be focused on that - they'd just focus on something else (the Grand Final) in seven days' time."
Garner, a six-time All-Australian, has never won the B&F award despite twice being named the best player in the competition by her peers and thrice by the coaches.
She couldn't even manage a top-five finish in the past two seasons, despite winning the AFLCA award, leading fellow players to ask if she was "invisible".
"[They came up to say] 'geez, Jas has been a bit unlucky here'," Roos skipper Emma Kearney said in the days after the 2022 count.
"We weren't shocked by (Ally) Anderson winning. I think she's had a tremendous year and is a deserving winner. We were more shocked by the lack of votes Jas received. She was clearly one of the most outstanding players all year."
The AFLW B&F winner is determined by the umpires, who give 3-2-1 votes after every game of the regular season.
Adelaide's Ebony Marinoff won the 2024 AFL Coaches Association AFLW Champion Player of the Year award and was AFL.com.au's favourite to take out the B&F after the first eight weeks of the season.
Richmond's Monique Conti won the award last year with 20 votes.
AFLW Best & Fairest winners
2023 - Monique Conti (Richmond)
2022 S7 - Ally Anderson (Brisbane)
2022 - Emily Bates (Brisbane)
2021 - Kiara Bowers (Fremantle) & Brianna Davey (Collingwood)
2020 - Madison Prespakis (Carlton)
2019 - Erin Phillips (Adelaide)
2018 - Emma Kearney (Western Bulldogs)
2017 - Erin Phillips (Adelaide)
