Adelaide: Powerful superstar Patrick Dangerfield was clearly seen as the club's best player by the umpires, finishing in fourth place with 22 votes. Club Champion Rory Sloane was rewarded for a great season with 15 votes, but Richard Douglas was surprisingly ignored – polling just three votes.

Brisbane Lions: Despite the Lions' decent 10-win season, they didn't garner much love from the umpires in a Brownlow night to forget, apart from Tom Rockliff. Picking up 19 votes between rounds 16-23 in a stunning stretch, he ended the night on 21, ahead of Pearce Hanley and Matthew Leuenberger (both eight).

 
Carlton: The Blues may have had a fairytale end to the season due to Essendon's demotion to ninth place, but there was nothing to write home about in the Brownlow count. Chris Judd and Marc Murphy were expected to lead the way, but it was Andrew Walker pacing the Blues with 11 votes. Murphy (10) and Kade Simpson (nine) rounded out their top three, while two-time winner Judd did at least pass 200 career votes, just the fourth player to achieve that milestone.

 
Collingwood: If anyone was going to stop the overwhelming favourite Gary Ablett, Collingwood duo Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury were considered right in the hunt. After a slow start, Swan moved into fourth place with three votes in round 12 and stayed there courtesy of another three in round 15. By round 22 he was outright second, just one vote behind Joel Selwood, but ultimately finished third on 26 votes. Pendlebury had another strong night, tallying 21 votes.
 
Essendon: After round five, reigning Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson was in front with nine votes. He had to wait until round nine for another vote, his three against Richmond leaving him in outright third behind Dan Hannebery and Gary Ablett. Another maximum votes in round 14 kept him in touch, yet the Bombers' poor end to the year cost him, ending up on 17 votes ahead of Dyson Heppell (10) and Brendon Goddard (nine).


Fremantle: The Grand finalists had 17 players poll votes, pointing to the evenness of the team. As expected, Nathan Fyfe topped the polling with 18 votes and showed his credentials as a potential future winner. David Mundy polled 16 and Michael Barlow 14 after terrific seasons.

Geelong: Until round 23 Joel Selwood appeared to be set to become the first Geelong captain to win a Brownlow. After taking the lead following a dominant performance against West Coast in round 21 he couldn't jag a vote against the Swans or Lions and was pipped at the post by Gary Ablett. Steve Johnson had a remarkable season polling 25 votes despite being ineligible. The All Australian centre half-back Harry Taylor showed it's tough to poll from defence finishing with 10 votes.  




Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury finished the night on 21 votes. Picture: AFL Media

Gold Coast: It was all about one man and that was the captain Gary Ablett. He had polled 23 votes and 24 votes in seasons where the Suns won just three games. This year they won eight and he won the medal with 28 votes. No other Suns player polled double figures. Dion Prestia was the next best with nine. Charlie Dixon and Zac Smith nearly cost their skipper the medal. They polled the top votes respectively in round five when Ablett had 32 disposals and kicked three goals in a 44-point win over GWS.


Greater Western Sydney: Jeremy Cameron's elevation to All Australian status had him as GWS' most likely leader and he duly led the way with six votes, just shy of Jonathan Giles' club-best seven in 2012. Cameron polled his first two career votes for his six-goal haul against Essendon in round six, another two against Geelong in round 11 and two more for his seven goals against Collingwood in round 18. Their other vote getters on the night were Tom Scully (five votes), Callan Ward (four), Dylan Shiel and Lachie Whitfield (both one).

Hawthorn: The betting plunge on Sam Mitchell did not amount to much as the Hawks star midfielder polled just 16 votes for season. He still led Hawthorn's polling ahead of Luke Hodge with 15 votes. The Coleman medallist Jarryd Roughead was the only other Hawk in double figures with 13.

Melbourne: Had a tough night to go with a tough year. Only six players polled votes this season. Nathan Jones led the Dees with six votes, Jack Watts three, Shannon Byrnes, Jack Viney and Aaron Davey polled two and Dean Terlich one. Melbourne's total of 16 votes is the worst return since the 3-2-1 system was introduced in 1931. The previous low was Fitzroy in 1996 with 20, a mark also lowered by GWS on Monday night (17 votes). 


North Melbourne: Andrew Swallow led the count throughout the early part of the year but didn't add to his 14 votes due to injury. Drew Petrie (10) beat the evergreen Brent Harvey (nine), which will be nice for pre-season bragging rights. Daniel Wells polled just eight votes despite a very good year. Lindsay Thomas only polled two votes in a year he kicked 53 goals.

Port Adelaide: The umpires apparently enjoyed the Power's surge from cellar dweller to finals player as much as everyone else. Skipper Travis Boak (13) and his deputy Brad Ebert (11) were the only Power players to notch double figure votes. The club's 2013 John Cahill medallist Chad Wingard managed eight votes.





Brad Ebert was one of two Port Adelaide players to notch double figure votes. Picture: AFL Media

Richmond: Dustin Martin's future might still be undecided, but the gun midfielder's performance on Brownlow night was proof of his importance at Punt Road. Martin polled 16 votes and only Trent Cotchin (19) did better.

St Kilda: He might have been ineligible, but the umpires still saw Leigh Montagna as the best Saint of 2013 and awarded him a club-high 16 votes, double that of the side's next best Jack Steven with eight votes.

 
Sydney Swans: Kieren Jack came in as the sixth favourite overall, with teammate Dan Hannebery considered a smokey, but it was the latter who proved the most prominent Swan for most of the night. Hannebery's three-vote game against Fremantle in round eight gave him the outright lead and by round 11 he was equal top with Gary Ablett on 18. He managed three more votes in round 17 to finish on 21, ahead of a fast-finishing Jack (19) and Josh Kennedy (14). Overall, an impressive 14 Swans polled votes.

West Coast: It was a disappointing season for the Eagles and it was reflected on Brownlow night. Matt Priddis was always going to be the Eagles' best. He polled 13 votes in a very consistent season. Chris Masten polled eight votes including top votes for a career-best day against GWS, while Josh Kennedy polled just six votes after a stellar season up forward. 

Western Bulldogs: One of the more favoured smokeys heading into the count, Ryan Griffen failed to poll as heavily as many predicted and ended up tying with emerging midfielder Tom Liberatore on 14 votes.