Essendon captain Zach Merrett has cut the lead Swans star Isaac Heeney holds over the rest of the competition for the AFL Coaches' Association Champion Player of the Year Award.
Heeney carried a 20-vote gap into Round 7 and still managed to poll a game-high seven votes to add to his season tally, however a ten-vote performance from Merrett has seen the gap between first and second narrow to 17 votes.
Merrett was one of six players from the round to be unanimously viewed as the best player for their respective match, with Giant Tom Green, Port Adelaide's Jase Burgoyne, Gold Coast's Jarrod Witts, Adelaide's Rory Laird and Geelong's Jeremy Cameron following suit.
Demons duo Jake Lever and Max Gawn shared nine votes each, as did Fremantle midfield pairing Caleb Sering and Nat Fyfe.
Stunningly, Heeney was one of five Sydney players to poll five or more coaches votes from Sunday's win over Hawthorn.
54 | Isaac Heeney | SYD |
37 | Zach Merrett | ESS |
33 | Max Gawn | MELB |
32 | Jeremy Cameron | GEEL |
32 | Caleb Serong | FRE |
31 | Tom Green | GWS |
28 | Matt Rowell | GCFC |
27 | Noah Anderson | GCFC |
27 | Patrick Cripps | CARL |
27 | Errol Gulden | SYD |
27 | Gryan Miers | GEEL |
27 | Elliot Yeo | WCE |