THE fate of the 2012 Brownlow Medal will be decided by the AFL Commission on Tuesday after returning Essendon star Jobe Watson admitted his decision to hand back the award “hurts”.

The 31-year-old relieved the Commission of the tough decision of whether to strip him of the award by making the call on Friday to give back the medal after he was hit with a 12-month doping ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for his role in the club’s 2012 injection program.

He made the decision with the hope of erasing questions as to whether the award was “tainted”.

PHANTOM COUNT: WHO WINS THE 2012 REVISED BROWNLOW?

The Bombers skipper conceded it will be a decision he comes to deal with fully - but just not yet.

“I guess it’ll be something that eventually I’ll move on from,” Watson said as he arrived for training.

“But at the moment, it hurts a bit.”

The Commission is now tasked with the unprecedented situation of considering Watson’s decision and formally making a ruling on the future of the medal.

It is split over whether to retrospectively award the 2012 medal to joint runners-up in then-Hawk Sam Mitchell - who is now at West Coast - and Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, or whether to declare it a year with no Brownlow winner.

There is flexibility within AFL rules that could allow the Commission to declare Mitchell and Cotchin - who finished tied in second place with 26 votes behind Watson’s 30 in 2012 - joint winners of the award, with the Commission having both absolute power to make such decisions on behalf of the game and also discretion over its own rules.

The AFL terday refused to comment on the matter, including in relation to how Mitchell and Cotchin could be recognised should the Commission rule that they be awarded best-and-fairest players for 2012.

Watson said he had no thoughts on whether the medal should be awarded to the pair or not.

Herald Sun readers are split, with 58 per cent of participants in a recent poll declaring that the duo should not be granted the medal.

League boss Gillon McLachlan this year described the decision as “as hard a decision as anyone on the Commission has had to make ... not just in their time in football, but almost in their lives”.

Watson’s former teammates Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder returned to full duties at Port Adelaide on Monday after completing their bans, with Monfries admitting he was “shattered” for his ex-skipper.

“It’s not a nice situation for him to be put in,” the Power forward said.

“I’m not sure (if giving the Brownlow back it’s the right thing).

“I’m just shattered for a friend that he’s been put in that position.”

Watson said in a statement on Friday that it was with “mixed emotions” that he handed back the medal.

“The basic principle behind this prestigious award is to honour the fairest and best. If there is a question in people’s minds as to whether the 2012 award is tainted, the fairest and best thing to do is to give it back and honour the history that has gone before me,” he said.

“I want to make it clear that (the) decision does not in any way reflect a change in my personal opinion regarding the merits of the CAS finding, but rather reflects my desire to put to a close further speculation about what should be done with the 2012 Brownlow Medal.”

Mitchell, who on Friday made his first appearance as an Eagle after his post-season trade, refused to be drawn on whether he would accept the award.

“I don’t know ... I’m not here to talk about that. I’m not going to go into details about that,” he said.

Cotchin insisted in March that he was not focused on whether he would accept the medal, but said “I think you would have to”.

Watson trained fully with his teammates in Monday’s two-hour session at Tullamarine, combining with young guns Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish in the midfield in full match-simulation drills, with delisted Swan Xavier Richards also training as he awaits to learn whether he will join the club as a delisted free agent.