BEN BROWN will be bidding to become the first key forward to win North Melbourne's best and fairest award since Wayne Carey at Friday night's Syd Barker Medal count.

Brown enjoyed an outstanding 2017, kicking a career-high 63 goals to finish fourth on the AFL goalkicking table. He was also ranked third in the competition for marks inside forward 50 (68) and equal fifth for contested marks (43).

The 200cm Tasmanian was the only Kangaroo named in the preliminary Virgin Australia All Australian squad and was North's leading vote-getter in the AFL Coaches Association player award (48), ahead of midfielders Ben Cunnington (45) and Shaun Higgins (42).

Brown can expect stiff competition on Friday night from Cunnington and Higgins, who have both polled strongly in past North's best and fairest counts. 

Cunnington won the 2014 Syd Barker Medal and finished runner-up the following season, while Higgins finished third in his first year with the Roos in 2015 before an injury-plagued 2016 season.

Midfielders have dominated North's best and fairest count since Carey won the last of his four Syd Barker Medals in 1998, with key defenders Scott Thompson (2013, joint winner with Daniel Wells), Robbie Tarrant (2016), and ruckman Todd Goldstein (2015) the only non-midfielders to win the club's top individual honour in that time. 

Tarrant and defender/midfielder Luke McDonald are among the other players expected to poll well on Friday night. 

Carey is widely regarded as the 1990's most dominant player. The centre half-forward captained North to the 1996 and 1999 premierships, won the Syd Barker Medal in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998 and was named All Australian seven times (1993-96, 1998-2000).

Drew Petrie enjoyed some dominant seasons after playing almost exclusively as a key forward in his final six years at Arden St, but the club great's best Syd Barker finish in that time was third in his 2011 All Australian year. When Petrie finished runner-up to Brent Harvey in 2008, he spent a lot of time in the ruck. 

Brown's previous best finish in North's best and fairest was 10th in last year's count, after he topped the Roos' goalkicking with 41 majors. 

The 24-year-old will comfortably top that result this year, but has he done enough to join Carey on the Syd Barker honour roll?