Gold Coast Suns champion Gary Ablett wins record fifth Leigh Matthews Trophy

CHANCE ... GARY ABLETT IS IN THE RUNNING FOR HIS FIFTH LEIGH MATTHEWS TROPHY. NEWS LIMITED

GARY Ablett was emphatically voted as the AFL Players’ Association’s most valuable player on Tuesday night for the second consecutive year.

It is the fifth time the Gold Coast captain has won the Leigh Matthews Trophy, a record, and also the biggest winning margin recorded in the award’s 32-year history.

After all AFL players voted in a 3, 2, 1 preference from a list of 51 nominees, Ablett scored a whopping 1479, winning by 1004 votes from Geelong skipper Joel Selwood and this year’s Coleman Medallist Jarryd Roughead.

The recent history of players converting an AFLPA MVP award win in to Brownlow Medal success is not great.

Only Ablett, in 2009, and Ben Cousins (2005) have done the double since 2000.

Ablett, however, is a resounding favourite to win his second Brownlow in two weeks time.

TAB rates the 29-year-old a $1.60 chance ahead of Selwood ($3.50) and Collingwood duo Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan ($8).

But Ablett himself is not getting carried away.

"It’s not something I’m thinking about too much, I don’t want to put too much expectation on myself,’’ Ablett said last night.

"I felt like I’ve had a consistent year and at the end of the day if I walk away with it it’s a bonus but if I don’t I’m still super excited about next year.’’

Ablett said he regarded such recognition from his peers as "pretty special".

But he said he would be as excited for his teammates when they start winning these sorts of awards in the coming years as the Suns begin their inevitable march to becoming premiership contenders.

"I really want to win a premiership up here,’’ Ablett said.

"But a big part of the reason that I did make the move was to work with new people and work with a young group and if we can have some success in the future it’s going to make it very satisfying because there has been some challenging times over the last three years.’’

AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis said Ablett would be remembered as one of the AFL’s greatest ever players.

"When he won his first three Leigh Matthews’ Trophies, we all agreed Gary was a champion in a star-studded team and marvelled at his on-field brilliance,’’ Finnis said.

"However what he has achieved since moving to the Suns, adding two Leigh Matthews Trophies to take his tally of five, is nothing short of extraordinary. With this unprecedented achievement he would have to be considered one of the greatest players of all time.’’

Ablett’s teammate Jaeger O’Meara also tasted success on Tuesday night.

The young gun was named best first year player, adding to the NAB Rising Star award he won last week.

O’Meara, who also finished third in Gold Coast’s best and fairest count, received 533 votes, winning clearly from Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines (45 votes) and Adelaide’s Brad Crouch (37).