The Brownlow is a night that makes history. Not only do we crown a winner each year but we also pay tribute to dozens of players in the AFL who accrue points but do not take the big prize home.
Nat Fyfe is the big story of the night, and his win throws up a few interesting statistical achievements. On top of that, some other players solidified their spot in the history books with their performance on Brownlow night. Here are some of the stories.
No singles for Fyfe
An important part of what gave Nathan Fyfe the win on Monday night was simply the fact that he was so often head and shoulders above every other player on the field, and ultimately he recorded the three votes on no less than nine occasions.
On top of this, he also recorded two votes twice, for a total of 31 votes for the evening, made all the more impressive by the fact he achieved it without picking up any single votes.
The last player to do that and win the medal was Adam Cooney in 2008, who had 24 votes for the night, with six lots of three votes and three lots of two.
Fyfe’s 31 votes is the highest ever recorded in a single year by a player not to have scored a single-vote from any individual game.
Fyfe joins Bunton
Yes, it’s another one on Nat Fyfe – this really is a huge achievement, Fyfe now boasts 106 votes from 101 eligible games, giving him the most votes per eligible game of any player in the history of the league.
The only other player in VFL/AFL history to recorded at least one vote per eligible game (aside from some who played only a handful of matches) is Fitzroy legend Haydn Bunton Sr, who played 117 eligible games for 122 votes, and is one of four players to have won the Brownlow three times.
With Fyfe just at the beginning of his career, anything could happen from here. At the moment his votes-per-game ratio eclipses every other player in the book.
Is Mitchell most unlucky?
Hawthorn legend Leigh Matthews is often called the player most unlucky to have not won a Brownlow and before Monday night you could make a fair case for it. Matthews’ 202 Brownlow votes is the most in history by any player to have not won the medal.
However, there’s a new clubhouse leader for that unwanted statistic, and he comes from the same colours – Sam Mitchell’s 26 votes took him to a total of 204 career votes, two more than Matthews.
It means Mitchell now boasts the most Brownlow votes by any Hawthorn player ever, the most by any player not to have won the medal, and the fifth most overall of all time.
Judd and Goodes come to an end
Retiring legends Chris Judd and Adam Goodes polled their last Brownlow votes on Monday night, finishing with just one each for the count, bringing to an end magnificent careers.
Both finish their careers with a pair of Brownlows each, though Judd is ahead on total votes with 210 – the fourth most of all time – to his name.
He peaked at third but fell behind Gary Ablett Junior who after five votes on Monday night boasts a tally of 214 for his career.
Goodes finishes a little further back with a still enormously respectable 163 career votes, behind only three-time winner Bob Skilton (180) as the most of all time for South Melbourne/Sydney.
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