Are we set to see yet another record-breaking Brownlow Medal count?
Recent history would suggest so.
There has been a clear trend over the last 15 years in the number of votes needed to win the Brownlow.
Last year we witnessed Nick Daicos poll 38 votes in a losing effort, only to be out-polled by Patrick Cripps, where he received his second Brownlow medal in a record-breaking 45-vote season.
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It was hard to fathom that Daicos polling 38 votes would not result in a winning effort, considering that total would have won every other count in history.
It then makes it even harder to fathom that Ben Cousins won the Brownlow in 2005 with just 20 votes.
That would have placed him in 14th position last year.
From 2000 to 2010, the average winning vote was 25.7, and no winner peaked over 30.
Since then, the average has increased to 32.4, with nine separate winners all above 30.
There is a clear trend of Brownlow votes getting higher.
In 2011, Dane Swan broke Robert Harvey’s long-standing record of 32 Brownlow votes, which he achieved in 1998.
Since Swan set the record at 34 in 2011, that record was broken or equalled four more times in the following 14 years.
Patrick Dangerfield’s 35 in 2016 was overtaken by Dustin Martin’s 36 votes the very next year.
Ollie Wines then equalled Martin’s 36 in 2021, until Cripps blew everyone out of the water with his 45 votes.
Why could this be?
Is there more of a reliance on one sole star midfielder in today's game, compared to a midfield by committee?
Could it be that social media and the notoriety of certain players has influenced the umpires' voting?
Or has the modern game—which so heavily relies on midfielders—taken away votes from full forwards such as Tony Lockett, who won the 1987 Brownlow Medal?
There is no definitive answer as to why, but we may see this trend continue.
And Daicos could be the next one to break it.