WEST Coast's brilliant ruckman Dean Cox wanted to find the nearest hole to crawl into last Thursday when he accidentally hit teammate Josh Kennedy in the eye with a tennis ball when goofing around in a warm-up.
Key forward Kennedy was taken to hospital and was forced out of the Eagles' clash with the Western Bulldogs, while Cox was looking for somewhere to hide.
But Cox showed his class by standing tall and helping overcome Kennedy's absence, dragging his side over the line at Etihad Stadium on Saturday to help it stay in touch with the top four.
The four-time All Australian finished with 27 disposals at 85 per cent efficiency, 13 marks, 37 hit-outs and the match-sealing mark and goal in the dying seconds of an eight-point win.
And he also picked up the maximum 10 votes in the AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) player of the year award.
It took Cox to eighth overall for this year's award, while he has also shortened to the fourth line in Brownlow Medal markets.
The Bulldogs turned around a 50-point lead to get in front in the final term before falling just short, with coach Rodney Eade asked after the game if his side had run out of steam.
"No, not at all," Eade said. "Obviously Cox helps, doesn't he?
"He's a bloody good player. When you're six-foot-twenty and you can run like a midfielder and kick and mark and do all that (it makes a difference)."
Another player to turn the heads of fans and coaches alike on the weekend was Geelong's Steve Johnson.
Johnson had 34 possessions, seven goals, nine marks and six inside-50s in the Cats' record win over Melbourne to also earn 10 AFLCA votes.
But it was Johnson's defensive work, rather than his efforts in attack, that impressed his coach Chris Scott.
"I'm sure that you'll all write that Steve Johnson was amazing, 34 touches and seven goals, that's amazing footy," Scott said in his post-match press conference.
"But the way he defended and the way he played the role that we asked him to play was absolutely first class and internally will be rated so much more highly because of those defensive things rather than the offensive things."
While Cox and Johnson garnered some impressive numbers, statistics don’t always tell the full story.
Dane Swan had 45 disposals in Collingwood's win over Essendon, Geelong's Joel Selwood had 43 possessions against the Demons and Bulldogs captain Matthew Boyd had 40 disposals against West Coast.
But none of them earned maximum votes from the coaches.
Cox took the votes ahead of Boyd (8 votes), Johnson also kept Selwood to eight, while Scott Pendlebury received nine, one ahead of Swan.
Pendlebury's votes took him to 69 for the season, equal third with Sam Mitchell, behind only Carlton duo Marc Murphy (79) and Chris Judd (70).
For the first time since round 14, neither Murphy nor Judd earned votes from the Blues' win over North Melbourne on Friday night, with Kade Simpson adjudged best on ground with nine.
Hawthorn's Mitchell picked up eight votes against Fremantle, while Gary Ablett keeps accumulating votes, receiving eight in Gold Coast's loss to St Kilda to sit equal-fifth with Boyd on 66.
Pendlebury may have earned the most votes against the Bombers, but veteran journalist Mike Sheahan felt Swan was the best player on the ground and had benefited from his mid-season trip to Arizona.
"I can't understand the criticism about Collingwood sending (Darren) Jolly and Swan to Arizona," he said on Fox Sports' On the Couch program.
"Swan was back into last year's form. He wasn't great early, but he fixed that. His last 40 minutes were unbelievable."
Round 19 Votes
North Melbourne v Carlton
9 Kade Simpson (Carl)
7 Heath Scotland (Carl)
6 Bryce Gibbs (Carl)
6 Andrew Swallow (NM)
2 Chris Yarran (Carl)
Western Bulldogs v West Coast
10 Dean Cox (WCE)
8 Matthew Boyd (WB)
5 Andrew Gaff (WCE)
5 Robert Murphy (WB)
1 Matt Priddis (WCE)
1Matt Rosa (WCE)
Geelong v Melbourne
10 Steve Johnson (Geel)
8 Joel Selwood (Geel)
5 Joel Corey (Geel)
5 Corey Enright (Geel)
1 Cameron Mooney (Geel)
1 Travis Varcoe (Geel)
Gold Coast v St Kilda
9 Nick Dal Santo (St K)
8 Gary Ablett (GC)
5 Nathan Bock (GC)
4 Brendon Goddard (St K)
2 Jarrod Harbrow (GC)
1 Brett Peake (St K)
1 Dion Prestia (GC)
Fremantle v Hawthorn
9 Brad Sewell (Haw)
8 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
4 Josh Gibson (Haw)
4 Grant Birchall (Haw)
3 Alex Silvagni (Frem)
2 Paul Puopolo (Haw)
Collingwood v Essendon
9 Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
8 Dane Swan (Coll)
4 Luke Ball (Coll)
3 Alex Fasolo (Coll)
3 Andrew Krakouer (Coll)
2 Leon Davis (Coll)
1 Patrick Ryder (Ess)
Adelaide v Port Adelaide
9 Nathan Van Berlo (Adel)
9 Bernie Vince (Adel)
3 Chris Knights (Adel)
3 Rory Sloane (Adel)
2 Patrick Dangerfield (Adel)
2 Scott Thompson (Adel)
1 Cameron Hitchcock (Port)
1 Graham Johncock (Adel)
Leaderboard
79 Marc Murphy (Carl)
70 Chris Judd (Carl)
69 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
69 Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
66 Gary Ablett (GC)
66 Matthew Boyd (WB)
63 Daniel Wells (NM)
60 Dean Cox (WCE)
58 Ryan O'Keefe (Syd)
57 Nathan Fyfe (Frem)
