possessions of his own. This was suggested by former Crows coach Malcolm Blight, as he did with Andrew McLeod and Simon Goodwin in 1997 and 1998. At the end of the season, he had only missed out on two games due to a calf injury. He had a career high 27 disposals against St Kilda, and followed that performance with 25 disposals against Geelong playing on the likes of Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel. Also in the game against St Kilda, Mattner had a career high number of kicks and marks playing further in the midfield. He continued to play well during the season, picking up 21 disposals against Fremantle in round 19 and again against Melbourne three weeks later in round 22. He picked up 12 Brownlow Medal votes, beating the likes of veterans Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod and Mark Ricciuto. In the season, he only failed to pick up 10 disposals or more in a game three times (twice against eventual premiers West Coast), and failed to lay a tackle twice. He kicked five goals for the season, including a career high two goals in a game against the Bulldogs in round 5. He has been praised by coach Neil Craig after he wanted him to take some parts of his game to a higher level. He is now considered an "automatic selection" player – that is, he will always get into the starting squad unless he is injured. 2007 Mattner managed 19 of 23 games for Adelaide in 2007, though his statistics were well down on previous years. Despite being a naturally attacking player, Mattner was consistently played in defence, rather than on a wing which would be his preferred position. This is often offered as an explanation to his drop in form, and subsequent trading away from the Crows. 2008–2012 Mattner was traded to the Sydney Swans at the end of the 2007 season and quickly found his feet in the Swans' backline. He had a terrific first year at his new club and consequently placed 3rd in the Bob Skilton Medal (Sydney's Best and Fairest Award) behind Jarrad McVeigh and Brett Kirk. His second game for the Swans was his 100th AFL game overall, played against . Since then, Mattner has played some very consistent football in defence and has established himself as a clear best 22 player in Sydney. 2009 and 2010 saw solid