Darcy Parish celebrates his match-sealing goal against Hawthorn in round 14, 2021. Picture: Getty Images

A THREE-HORSE race is developing for this year's Brownlow Medal.

With every side having enjoyed their bye and with every team back having played an equal amount of games, just one round of votes separates the three big contenders in this year's AFL.com.au Brownlow Predictor.

BROWNLOW PREDICTOR Who's leading the race for Charlie?

Melbourne star Clayton Oliver leads the chasing pack at the halfway point of the season, tipped by the Brownlow Predictor to poll 21 votes coming out of the club's much-deserved bye week.

Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli is just one behind Oliver with 20 votes, while Essendon youngster Darcy Parish is sitting comfortably in third and is tipped to still be in touching distance of the leader with 18 votes.

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With the majority of teams having had their bye last weekend, none of the top 10 are expected to poll any votes in round 14. It makes for an intriguing final stretch of the season.

Fremantle veteran David Mundy is still among the top contenders with 15 predicted votes, while Brisbane's impressive midfielder Hugh McCluggage rounds out the top-five with 14 votes of his own.

BROWNLOW PREDICTOR Who's leading the race for Charlie?

Making for an interesting subplot on Brownlow Medal night is that each of the three leading contenders – Oliver, Bontempelli and Parish – each have teammates who could steal votes from them throughout the count.

Oliver's midfield mate Christian Petracca is just outside the top-five with 13 predicted votes, as is Parish's teammate Zach Merrett who is also tipped to poll 13 votes thus far, while Bontempelli's prolific partner Jackson Macrae is predicted to have 12 votes.

BROWNLOW PREDICTOR

21 Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
20 Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
18 Darcy Parish (Essendon)
15 David Mundy (Fremantle)
14 Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)

SPORTSBET ODDS

$3.50 Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
$5 Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
$7 Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
$7.50 Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
$8.50 Darcy Parish (Essendon)