HISTORY MADE Lion King Lachie wins second Brownlow in thrilling count
BROWNLOW TRACKER Every vote for every player, as it happened
BROWNLOW HUB All you need for footy's night of nights
TALKING POINTS Lachie's mystery votes, revenge games, Jezza at it again
GALLERY The best pics from the Brownlow Medal red carpet
BEST OF Giants flyer, young Lion win Mark and Goal of the Year
LEADER Inspirational Blue honoured with 2023 Jim Stynes Award
Captain Jordan Dawson and midfielder Rory Laird tied as the leading vote-getters with 20 each, with Dawson enjoying a strong first half of the season that included four best-on ground performances. Taylor Walker was a strong poller among the key forwards with 16, including, unsurprisingly, a set of three in the final round of the season for his bag of nine goals against West Coast.
Total votes: 77
Lachie Neale became a dual Brownlow Medal winner when he won a thrilling count with three-vote performances in the final two rounds against Collingwood and St Kilda. He polled votes in eight of the first 10 rounds to give himself every chance before his late flurry to edge past Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli. Joe Daniher was recognised for a fine season with 12 votes, while first-year sensation Will Ashcroft was the only other Lion in double figures with 10 before a ruptured ACL cut his season short. Harris Andrews proved key defenders could poll when he racked up all eight of his votes in a purple patch between rounds 15 and 19.
Total votes: 92
Reigning winner Patrick Cripps did a mighty fine job of defending his Medal, exceeding external expectations to finish with 22 votes. Cripps had a strong start to the year, and it was no surprise that he was at the forefront of the Blues' mid-season resurgence with three votes in the season-shaping round 14 win over Gold Coast. Dual Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow was awarded three votes in five matches to finish with a career-high 17. Sam Docherty was next best with seven, polling in three of the final six rounds.
Total votes: 78
Entering the count, Nick Daicos was always going to need a cushion before a knee injury wiped him out of the final three matches, and the second-year sensation came within a whisker of doing it. Daicos was perched on 28 votes and still had a share of the lead entering the final round before Marcus Bontempelli and Lachie Neale dashed his hopes of an incredible triumph. Previous winner Tom Mitchell was the next best with 12 votes, while Josh Daicos finished with eight – twice getting two votes when his brother got three (in round two against Port Adelaide and round 18 against Fremantle).
Total votes: 92
The Bombers were busy early but not surprisingly the votes dried up as the season went on. Zach Merrett sat on 14 votes after 12 rounds and finished on 17 to lead his side. Darcy Parish got off to red-hot start with consecutive best on grounds in the first two rounds and polled steadily through the night, ending with 15, Nic Martin the only other Don to reach double figures with 10. Outside of that three, no other Essendon player polled in more than two games.
Total votes: 59
All-Australian midfielder Caleb Serong was the Dockers' standout player in 2023, but he entered Monday night ineligible for the Brownlow Medal because of suspension. He announced himself as a strong poller, however, with an impressive tally of 24, including 17 in the final 10 rounds of the season. Andrew Brayshaw, who was a winning chance last year, polled 10 votes, while Lachie Schultz matched his 2022 tally with six votes. The small forward and ruckman Luke Jackson couldn't be separated in the Glendinning-Allan Medal voting in round 22, but Schultz got the votes from the umpires on Monday night.
Total votes: 67
The Brownlow isn't traditionally a night for key forwards to shine but Jeremy Cameron got off to a flyer with 11 votes after eight rounds before injury and results slowed his pace. The Cats' leading goalkicker still finished as the club's leading vote-winner with 13, pipping skipper Patrick Dangerfield (12) by one, with Cameron's fellow forward Tom Hawkins next with seven.
Total votes: 55
Young midfielder Noah Anderson was one of the night's bolters, giving Suns fans a thrill to finish equal ninth on 22 votes. He's just the third player in club history to top 20 votes after 2013 winner Gary Ablett and co-captain Touk Miller. Anderson polled 13 votes from rounds five to nine and sat in the top five for much of the count. His great mate Matt Rowell was rewarded for a terrific season, racking up 12 votes, while Jack Lukosius finished with eight, including a three-voter for his five goals against premier Geelong in round three.
Total votes: 57
Captain Toby Greene capped off an incredible season with a career-best 20 votes. Greene, the All-Australian captain, kicked 60 goals in the home and away matches and was rewarded with six three-vote performances. His namesake Tom Green also kept the votes ticking, gathering 16, while Stephen Coniglio finished with 10. Key position players Jesse Hogan (nine goals against Essendon in round 23) and Sam Taylor (nine intercepts and four contested marks from 15 disposals against Gold Coast in round 19) also had three-vote outings.
Total votes: 71
After 11 votes last year, Jai Newcombe topped Hawthorn's count with 18 this season to stamp his name as a player to watch in future counts. The Mid-Season Rookie draftee polled in eight games and picked up the three votes on three occasions to finish clear of his captain James Sicily (12) and James Worpel (11). For a club firmly in rebuild mode, the fact they were able to pick up all six votes in seven games is a testament to their development in 2023.
Total votes: 57
Christian Petracca was strong out of the blocks and led near the half-way point of the count, but didn't poll a single vote in the final four rounds – and polled just one vote in the final six rounds – to be overrun. Jack Viney had a career-best season, polling 24 votes to finish equal seventh. Viney finished the season with a bang, collecting three votes in each of the last two games. Max Gawn was the Demons' next best on seven votes.
Total votes: 89
Luke Davies-Uniacke started the year with two best on grounds in the Kangaroos' round one and two wins, but like his side, things went downhill from there, finishing with 13 votes after a late flurry. Gun full forward Nick Larkey was North's next best with seven and Tarryn Thomas, who spent time exiled from the club before coming back through the VFL, was the Kanga's third highest scorer with five votes – all scored in the final two rounds of the season. Rising Star winner Harry Sheezel polled one Brownlow vote in his debut game in round one – and another the following week.
Total votes: 39
Leading chance Zak Butters looked in trouble when he polled only once in the first eight rounds to slip well behind the early movers. He recovered, however, to poll in 10 of the next 15 games and finish fifth overall with 27 votes. Connor Rozee, who had his measure through the first half of the season, polled 21 votes, while Jason Horne-Francis added 16. Jeremy Finlayson doubled his career tally of three when he registered a best-on-ground performance in round 12 for a five-goal performance against Hawthorn.
Total votes: 86
Recruit Tim Taranto shared Brownlow favourism at stages of the season but a slower than expected start to the count never saw him challenge, although four consecutive best on grounds from round 11 to 14 kept him at the pointy end of the table. Taranto finished with 19 votes, while fellow former Giant Jacob Hopper managed just one. Highlight package Shai Bolton was the Tigers' second best with 14 ahead of 2017 medalist Dustin Martin with eight.
Total votes: 65
It was a tight race amongst the Saints, with Jack Sinclair, Brad Crouch and Jack Steele all getting 15 votes or more. Sinclair's tally of 21 surprisingly didn't include any votes in the round 10 win over the Giants, when he picked up 37 disposals, two goals and a perfect 10 coaches votes. Another surprise was the lack of a vote for Mitch Owens in the round four win over Gold Coast, when he had 27 touches, two goals and eight coaches votes.
Total votes: 73
For one giddying moment, it looked like Errol Gulden just might storm home to win the whole thing. A staggering second half of the year saw the young Swan finish on 27 votes, just four behind Lachie Neale. From round 15, the wingman picked up three votes in six of 10 games and was unlucky to get just one vote in round 24 having picked up 42 disposals and two goals. Chad Warner (16) was the only other Swans player to pick up more than 10 votes, with co-captain Luke Parker finishing the night with 10.
Total votes: 75
Smooth-moving midfielder Tim Kelly was the Eagles' best polling chance and he walked away with 11 votes in a hard slog of a season that only saw two players poll in multiple games. Kelly was joined on that measure by midfielder Dom Sheed, who produced two best-on-ground performances for a final tally of six, with Jamie Cripps and Jamaine Jones adding three each. Just three wins for the season made Brownlow Medal night a quiet one for the Eagles.
Total votes: 28
For a fleeting moment in an enthralling final round, Marcus Bontempelli snuck into the lead thanks to a three-vote haul against Geelong. But he would ultimately fall two votes short after eventual winner Lachie Neale also claimed the maximum votes in the final round. Bontempelli came home strong in the latter half of the season, polling in six of the Dogs' nine games post-bye. Tom Liberatore polled regularly throughout the night to finish on 17 votes, while ruckman Tim English (11 votes) was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures.
Total votes: 81
