Lions co-captain Simon Black and Jonathan Brown have been nominated by their team mates as worthy candidates to receive one of AFL football's most prestigious awards - the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player.
The award is designed to reward the player acknowledged by his peers to have displayed leadership, versatility, ability to play under pressure, skill and courage, respect for all players and overall value to a team.
Black and Brown were the Lions representatives, as each club nominated two players from within. Nominees from other clubs include:
Adelaide: Simon Goodwin & Andrew McLeod
Brisbane Lions: Simon Black & Jonathan Brown
Carlton: Andrew Carazzo & Kade Simpson
Collingwood: Travis Cloke & Tarkyn Lockyer
Essendon: Dustin Fletcher & Mark McVeigh
Fremantle: Peter Bell & Matthew Pavlich
Geelong: Gary Ablett & Matthew Scarlett
Hawthorn: Luke Hodge & Sam Mitchell
Kangaroos: Brent Harvey & Adam Simpson
Melbourne: James McDonald & Jeff White
Port Adelaide: Domenic Cassisi & Chad Cornes
Richmond: Nathan Foley & Matthew Richardson
St Kilda: Sam Fisher & Nick Riewoldt
Sydney: Adam Goodes & Brett Kirk
West Coast Eagles: Chris Judd & Daniel Kerr
Western Bulldogs: Brad Johnson & Scott West
The AFLPA MVP award is the only AFL award determined purely by the footballers themselves.
Since the inception of the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 1982, the club has had two recipients of the award. Former skipper Michael Voss won back-to-back trophies in 2002 and 2003 while Fitzroy great Paul Roos won the award in 1986.
As well as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFLPA will also present Best Captain, the Robert Rose for Most Courageous Player and Best First Year Player awards as part of the ceremony.
Brown was voted as the Lions' nominee for Most Courageous Player while 2006 draftee Matthew Leuenberger will represent the club in the Best First Year Player award.
The winner of the AFL player-selected Leigh Matthews Trophy will be announced at the 2007 AFLPA Most Valuable Player awards on Friday 28 September at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt.
