WHETHER Nat Fyfe has overtaken Gary Ablett as the best player in the AFL is still up for debate, but the Fremantle star is all the rage with the bookies after being installed as outright favourite to win his first Brownlow Medal.
Fyfe, 23, was again outstanding against Geelong, amassing 36 disposals (including 25 contested), six clearances, seven inside 50s and three goals in a dominant midfield display.
CrownBet, the AFL's official betting partner, has Fyfe listed as the outright Brownlow favourite at $4.50 ahead of Patrick Dangerfield ($8.00) and Ablett ($8.50).
Only teammates David Mundy and Michael Barlow would have prevented Fyfe from earning best afield honours for the second straight week.
Fyfe picked up the maximum 10 AFL Coaches' Association votes from Ross Lyon and Ken Hinkley after a best on ground effort against Port Adelaide in round one.
Fyfe finished runner-up in last year's count, behind eventual winner Matt Priddis, and polled 25 votes for the season.
However the Dockers star was ineligible to win the medal after being controversially suspended for a high bump on Gold Coast's Michael Rischitelli, which resulted in a head clash, in round two last season.
The incidental head contact was a point of contention for much of last season and led to the AFL changing its Brownlow eligibility policy.
Fyfe was later suspended for striking Hawthorn's Jordan Lewis in round 21.
His hot start has prompted some football pundits to elevate the Dockers onballer ahead of Ablett, who has had a slow beginning to the season because of the lingering effects of shoulder surgery.
The Freo star started 2014 in fine form, but only gathered one Brownlow vote in the first two rounds thanks largely to being substituted at three-quarter time of his side's 70-point win over Collingwood in round one.
Despite playing a key role in the win with 20 disposals, nine clearances and a goal, the substitution meant he went voteless. The single vote he received was against the Suns in round two.
After his first two games in 2015, it is hard to see that being the case when the umpires' votes are revealed at the end of the season.
