AFL world blasts ‘absolute joke’ as Patrick Cripps wins Brownlow Medal with record haul

AFL fans and pundits are once again calling for a re-think of the Brownlow Medal voting system after Patrick Cripps won with a record tally on Monday night. The Carlton star smashed the previous Brownlow votes record, dominating the count and securing his second medal with three rounds left.

Cripps polled 45 votes on Monday night, including 12 three-vote games out of the 24 rounds. He beat fellow pre-count favourite Nick Daicos by seven votes, although the Collingwood young gun’s tally of 38 would have won any other Brownlow count in history. His runner-up total also beat the old record of 36 – held jointly by Richmond’s Dustin Martin (2017) and Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines (2021).

However some head-scratching votes have once again opened the debate around whether the system needs changing. It’s long been recognised that the Brownlow system, which is voted on by the umpires alone, favours midfielders and gives extra weight to players who get their hands on the ball the most.

But there have been renewed calls for change, with many in the AFL world saying there’s no way Cripps had the greatest season anyone has ever seen. And some of the votes he received have been put under the microscope by AFL experts.

In Round 13 he got two votes against Essendon despite only being the 11th-best player on the ground per the Player Ratings system. He only kicked at 14 per cent efficiency and finished with 19 disposals, yet was still adjudged second-best player on ground by the umpires.

In total, there were 17 instances in which a player polled three Brownlow votes but zero from the coaches. Many believe the AFL Coaches Association Award is a better barometer for the best player of the year, and there’s clearly a divide in what the coaches and umpires look for.

Marcus Bontempelli ‘disrespect’ laid bare in Brownlow voting

One player who was brutally snubbed by the Brownlow system was Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli. Social media was awash on Monday night with uproar that Bontempelli wasn’t polling more votes, particularly in Round 2 when he was completely ignored.

Bontempelli had 32 disposals and two goals in the Bulldogs’ win over Gold Coast, yet didn’t receive a single vote. The Bulldogs captain was adjudged AFL Players’ Association MVP in 2024, yet only polled a total of 19 Brownlow votes. On social media, the treatment of Bontempelli was labelled “ridiculous” and “disrespectful”.

Should the Brownlow Medal voting system be changed?

Last year, former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan admitted it would be beneficial for umpires to look at stats before awarding their Brownlow votes, rather than going purely off feel. But McLachlan said “there’s no way in the world anyone should contemplate changing it” and taking the voting out of the hands of umpires.

“Generally, the best players win, and it’s the beauty of the thing,” he said on SEN radio. “Should you give them some baseline data to work with, that could be debated … but it’s an umpires’ vote and that’s absolutely right from my point of view – it’s created this mystique and uncertainty. I don’t know what people want … the formula works.

But former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has suggested a “panel of elders” should be tasked with deciding the game’s most prestigious awards. “I think we’ve got enough really great former players who get lost to the game,” he said previously.

“Let’s get a few of the others that we haven’t seen in a while. People who have gone off and done other businesses and things. Get them there, have five or six of them…sit them down, furnish them with the information they need so they’re not just sitting there as someone goes past them with drinks, and do it properly so you get it right.”

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