Every year, on the Monday prior to the AFL Grand Final, the competition’s top players swap their guernseys and shorts for tails and ties and hit the red carpet for a night of glamour, reminiscence and a few too many Crown Lagers. At the end of it all, the coveted Brownlow Medal is awarded to the man voted the fairest and best player of the season.

This is widely regarded as the highest individual honour in Australian football, with a roll call of past winners spanning early VFL greats such as Haydn Bunton Sr. and Dick Reynolds to modern superstars like Chris Judd and Gary Ablett Jr.

Brownlow night in recent years has also become a highlight on the AFL betting calendar, with top bookmakers offering a number of enticing futures markets, players props and exotics.

Who will win it this year?

Best online bookies for Brownlow Medal betting

Latest Brownlow Medal odds

After years of two-horse races and foregone conclusions, the 2019 Brownlow Medal count is shaping up as an unusually open affair.

A strong finish to the year saw Patrick Dangerfield jump into +185 outright favouritism, but he has plenty of company at the top end of Brownlow betting.

Lachie Neale (+350) played a pivotal part in Brisbane’s run to the finals, while Nat Fyfe (+550) and Patrick Cripps (+900) were among the best performers to miss the top eight.

Marcus Bontempelli (+500) leads a trio of Western Bulldogs hopes, with Jack Macrae (+3300) and Josh Dunkley (+5000) expected to poll well in the back half of the year.

Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy (+1600) was the standout ruckman in 2019, while Geelong gun Tim Kelly (+2800) is an excellent chance to lead the count at the halfway stage.

2019 Brownlow Medal outright odds
+185 – Patrick Dangerfield
+350 – Lachie Neale
+500 – Marcus Bontempelli
+550 – Nat Fyfe
+900 – Patrick Cripps
+1600 – Brodie Grundy
+2000 – Adam Treloar
+2800 – Tim Kelly
+3300 – Jack Macrae
+5000 – Josh Dunkley, Luke Shuey
+8000 – Travis Boak, Andrew Gaff, Zach Merrett, Elliot Yeo
+10000 – Max Gawn, Scott Pendlebury

How to bet on the Brownlow

Online bookmakers run multiple futures markets for the Brownlow every year. Even more exotic punting options become available in the lead-up to the big night. Sign up at one of our top-ranked AFL betting sites to get in on the action.

• Outright betting:
  Who will win the medal? This is the biggest of the all the AFL Brownlow betting markets, available all year round at leading online sportsbooks.
• Quinellas and trifectas:
  Just the same as picking all the place-getters in horse racing, you can bet on who will finish as the top two (quinella) or top three (trifecta) pollers in the Brownlow.
• Place betting
  Rather than betting on the outright winner or the exact order of the top place-getters, you can predict that a player will finish in the top three or in the top five.
• Team betting:
  AFL betting sites also give you the option the bet on which player will top their club’s vote tally. For example: you could pick Adam Treloar to poll the most votes for Collingwood, or Jarryd Roughead to top the charts at Hawthorn, and so on.
  
• Group markets:
  Much like group bets in golf and cricket, these markets ask you to pick to the top vote-getter from a mini-field of three or four players. For example: a bookmaker might group Rockliff, Dangerfield, Hannebery and Boak together, from which you would select whichever of those players you think will poll the most votes.
• Halfway leader:
  Did one of your preseason favourites jump out of the blocks fast before picking up an injury midway through the year? Or do you think so-and-so will poll better than expected in the early rounds? Pick whomever you think will top the pops at the halfway stage of the vote count.
• Player lines:
  These work just like any old AFL line bet. For example: if Gary Ablett has a line of a 20.5, you can bet on him to poll 20 votes or fewer (under) or 21 votes or more (over).
• Brownlow multi bets:
  You can combine any of the above markets into an AFL multi. For example: you might have a four-legged bet on Nat Fyfe to win outright, Dayne Beams to lead at halfway, Bryce Gibbs to be Carlton’s top finisher and Rory Sloane to score under 17.5 votes. Every leg must salute in order for the multi to win, but the payouts are much higher than single bets.

Past Brownlow Medal winners

The first Chas Brownlow Trophy was awarded in 1924 to Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves Jr. – the man after whom Geelong’s club championship is named.

Voting is conducted by the field umpires, who are asked to single which players were the fairest and best performers on the day. Only one vote per match was cast up until 1930, since when the current three-two-one system has been used.

Past Brownlow Medal winners
1924	Edward Greeves Jr. (Geelong) – seven votes
1925	Colin Watson (St. Kilda) – nine votes
1926	Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne) – nine votes
1927	Syd Coventry (Collingwood) – seven votes
1928	Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne) – eight votes
1929	Albert Collier (Collingwood) – six votes
1930	Harry Collier (Collingwood), Allan Hopkins (Footscray), Stan Judkins (Richmond) – four votes
1931	Haydn Bunton Sr. (Fitzroy) – 26 votes
1932	Haydn Bunton Sr. (Fitzroy) – 23 votes
1933	Wilfred Smallhorn (Fitzroy) – 18 votes
1934	Dick Reynolds (Essendon) – 19 votes
1935	Haydn Bunton Sr. (Fitzroy) – 24 votes
1936	Denis Ryan (Fitzroy) – 26 votes
1937	Dick Reynolds (Essendon) – 27 votes
1938	Dick Reynolds (Essendon) – 18 votes
1939	Marcus Whelan (Collingwood) – 23 votes
1940	Des Fothergill (Collingwood), Herbie Matthews (South Melbourne) – 32 votes
1941	Norman Ware (Footscray) – 23 votes
1946	Don Cordner (Melbourne) – 20 votes
1947	Bert Deacon (Carlton) – 20 votes
1948	Bill Morris (Richmond) – 24 votes
1949	Col Austen (Hawthorn) – 23 votes
1950	Allan Ruthven (Fitzroy) – 21 votes
1951	Bernie Smith (Geelong) – 23 votes
1952	Roy Wright (Richmond), Bill Hutchison (Essendon) – 21 votes
1953	Bill Hutchison (Essendon) – 26 votes
1954	Roy Wright (Richmond) – 29 votes
1955	Fred Goldsmith (South Melbourne) – 21 votes
1956	Peter Box (Footscray) – 22 votes
1957	Brian Gleeson (St. Kilda) – 24 votes
1958	Neil Roberts (St. Kilda) – 20 votes
1959	Verdun Howell (St. Kilda), Bob Skilton (South Melbourne) – 20 votes
1960	John Schultz (Footscray) – 20 votes
1961	John James (Carlton) – 21 votes
1962	Alistair Lord (Geelong) – 28 votes
1963	Bob Skilton (South Melbourne) – 20 votes
1964	Gordon Collis (Carlton) – 27 votes
1965	Noel Teasdale (North Melbourne), Ian Stewart (St. Kilda) – 20 votes
1966	Ian Stewart (St. Kilda) – 21 votes
1967	Ross Smith (St. Kilda) – 24 votes
1968	Bob Skilton (South Melbourne) – 24 votes
1969	Kevin Murray (Fitzroy) – 19 votes
1970	Peter Bedford (South Melbourne) – 25 votes
1971	Ian Stewart (Richmond) – 21 votes
1972	Len Thompson (Collingwood) – 25 votes
1973	Keith Greig (North Melbourne) – 27 votes
1973	Keith Greig (North Melbourne) – 27 votes
1974	Keith Greig (North Melbourne) – 27 votes
1975	Gary Dempsey (Footscray) – 20 votes
1976	Graham Moss (Essendon) – 48 votes*
1977	Graham Teasdale (South Melbourne) – 59 votes*
1978	Malcolm Blight (North Melbourne) – 22 votes
1979	Peter Moore (Collingwood) – 22 votes
1980	Kelvin Templeton (Footscray) – 23 votes
1981	Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy), Barry Round (South Melbourne) – 22 votes
1982	Brian Wilson (Melbourne) – 23 votes
1983	Ross Glendinning (North Melbourne) – 24 votes
1984	Peter Moore (Melbourne) – 22 votes
1985	Brad Hardie (Footscray) – 22 votes
1986	Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn), Greg Williams (Sydney) – 17 votes
1987	John Platten (Hawthorn), Tony Lockett (St. Kilda) – 20 votes
1988	Gerard Healy (Sydney) – 20 votes
1989	Paul Couch (Geelong) – 22 votes
1990	Tony Liberatore (Footscray) – 18 votes
1991	Jim Stynes (Melbourne) – 25 votes
1992	Scott Wind (Footscray) – 20 votes
1993	Gavin Wanganeen (Essendon) – 18 votes
1994	Greg Williams (Carlton) – 30 votes
1995	Paul Kelly (Sydney) – 21 votes
1996	James Hird (Essendon), Michael Voss (Brisbane) – 21 votes
1997	Robert Harvey (St. Kilda) – 26 votes
1998	Robert Harvey (St. Kilda) – 32 votes
1999	Shane Crawford (Hawthorn) – 28 votes
2000	Shane Woewodin (Melbourne) – 24 votes
2001	Jason Akermanis (Brisbane) – 23 votes
2002	Simon Black (Brisbane) – 25 votes
2003	Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide), Nathan Buckley (Collingwood), Adam Goodes (Sydney) – 22 votes
2004	Chris Judd (West Coast) – 30 votes
2005	Ben Cousins (West Coast) – 20 votes
2006	Adam Goodes (Sydney) – 26 votes
2007	Jimmy Bartel (Geelong) – 29 votes
2008	Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs) – 24 votes
2009	Gary Ablett Jr. (Geelong) – 30 votes
2010	Chris Judd (Carlton) – 30 vote
2011	Dane Swan (Collingwood) – 34 votes
2012	Trent Cotch (Richmond), Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn) – 26 votes**
2013	Gary Ablett Jr. (Gold Coast) – 28 votes
2014	Matthew Priddis (West Coast) – 26 votes
2015	Nat Fyfe (Fremantle) – 31 votes
2016	Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) – 35 votes
2017	Dustin Martin (Richmond) – 36 votes
2018	Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) – 28 votes

* In 1976 and 1977, both field umpires were asked to cast votes separately – hence the higher tallies for Teasdale and Moss. This was scrapped in favour of a collaborative system where the umpires submit a single set of votes between them.

** Jobe Watson won the initial count with 30 votes but was later stripped of the title due to doping charges relating to Essendon’s 2012 supplements program.