I was lucky enough to have something on Swan simply because of the amount of footy he was getting. The umpires now get to see the stats before they give their votes. I think last year was the first year it happened and with Swan getting so much ball last year with very little votes in return it created a lot of talk back madness on radio. The amount of idiots that would ring in quoting the amount of touches Swan got without getting a vote was never ending. So i'm sure the umpires have made a conscious effort now to give votes to the players who rack em up.
In past years you would have young players who star in a game but because the umpires don't really know who they are they would miss out on votes. A Fyfe comes to mind as an example but now the umpies would look at the stats and see Fyfe has had 30 possies and 2-3 goals so he should get 3.
I don't like the way the umpires do the votes these days but with the amount of criticism they get from the media and the fans I don't really blame them.
In the future i will be looking at the stats to give me the best indication on where my money is going.