SYDNEY coach Paul Roos last night confirmed that he and his coaching staff could not find a vote to give Ben Cousins after his team's clash with West Coast last Saturday.

After every match, the coaches from each club issue votes for the annual coaches association award, with their best player receiving five votes, next four, and so on down to one vote.

Many considered the performance of Cousins — playing his first game this season after his off-field problems led to drug rehabilitation — with a career-best 38 touches, was a best-on-ground effort, but despite receiving five points from the West Coast coaching panel, he did not gain a point from Sydney.

Roos was asked before his team's training session last night if it was correct that he had not given Cousins a vote.

"Yeah, it is," he replied. "I think in doing it, we (his coaching panel) probably felt — I can't remember who we voted for, to be honest — I think you are looking at the impact on the game and I think we thought Dean Cox with his three goals might have been (the best) and Daniel Kerr who had a terrific game.

"So it was probably more that we felt there were other players who had really good games, and I guess that's why we got beaten."

When asked if he didn't think Cousins deserved the votes, Roos said: "Well, clearly.

"We can only call it the way we see it. It's very subjective. I must admit I've looked at it before and we've had Hally (Barry Hall) who's had five (votes) and the opposition have had him at zero, so it's certainly been a mixed bag as we've been through it over the last couple of years with the coaches' association.

"We've had players at our footy club who we've given five to and other clubs haven't voted and to be honest with you, it hasn't worried me at all when that has happened because it is a subjective sort of thing.

"The one I can remember was when Hally kicked seven and for some reason he hasn't been voted for by the opposition. So I can understand how that would happen."

Having missed the first 15 rounds of the competition, it's unlikely that getting no votes from the Swans will have any impact on whether Cousins wins the award, but their decision undoubtedly will raise some eyebrows.