Grand final week has arrived and it kicks off with a personal favourite night, the Brownlow Medal.
In this week’s AFL Stock Market, it’s time to look at a couple of stocks to consider following on the night.
The night has its ebbs and flows but for the below players, it might be an enjoyable night overall.
Buy: Luke Shuey top 10
The Eagles missed out on making the top four after a terrible final patch in the home-and-away season, but the team’s success is sure to translate into a decent tally of Brownlow votes.
While all the love generally goes to Andrew Gaff in the Brownlow count, and at times Elliot Yeo, it’s Luke Shuey who should bolt into a top 10 finish this season.
After winning the Norm Smith Medal for his excellent grand final performance in 2018, Shuey lifted his game into a more eye-catching extraction style – moreso than ever before.
Shuey averaged 27 disposals this season, with a clear career-high of 17 kicks and 454.9 metres gained per match.
The 29-year-old had an extremely consistent season, and the individual award he received in the grand final always tends to help out in terms of noticeability.
The Eagles will poll plenty of votes between their best few players, and it’ll be Shuey that does the best job.
(AAP Image/David Mariuz)
Sell: Ben Cunnington early hype
Ridiculously, there was talk about Cunnington being rated highly in the Brownlow Medal each time he was getting reported.
Every time he avoided suspension, Cunnington’s form was rated better than it ever was thanks to social media hype.
The 28-year-old had a solid season, averaging 26.6 disposals and seven clearances per game, but most of his good games came in the period where North Melbourne had two wins and seven losses.
Cunnington will pick up a couple of 3-vote games, but this wasn’t an outstanding season by any stretch.
Shaun Higgins probably wins the club’s voting, and Ben Brown and Jack Ziebell’s big games were more impressive than Cunnington’s anyway.
Buy: Travis Boak
Despite consistently good form this season, Travis Boak still flew under the radar for the season.
Boak posted career-high numbers in kicks, disposals, clearances and contested possessions and crucially, was the one constant in Port Adelaide’s midfield.
When the Power produced their good games, Boak continued to stand out.
With just 19 votes over the past three seasons having played a lesser midfield role, his return to the centre is sure to catch the eye of umpires.
Historically, Boak’s work has been well appreciated by those that matter when it comes to voting.
Perhaps giving away 26 free kicks throughout the season could affect his ability to poll well, but Boak is certainly a chance to finish in the top ten, if not higher.
Buy: Jeremy Cameron to win GWS count
If Lance Franklin consistently polled 15+ votes with his output, Cameron has to go pretty close this season.
Cameron had a great home-and-away season, clearly, winning the Coleman Medal and having nine games with 8+ marks.
There could be five games where the 26-year-old is deemed the best player on the ground, which immediately takes him to that 15-vote mark.
GWS’ midfield group are generally magnets for Brownlow votes, and they’ll certainly be one of the better teams on the night for team votes.
Cameron could certainly be the biggest Giant on the night, which would be another nice personal accolade to receive in the biggest week of the club’s footballing life.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Buy: Collingwood duo top five
With a lot of quality performances this season, it wouldn’t surprise to see an extended top five, with plenty of tied placings.
Within that, I’m fully expecting Brodie Grundy and Adam Treloar to finish in the upper echelon on the night.
The key part to these two players is their consistency throughout the season, where their floors were quite high and there’s potential for both players to be polling well in losses.
Grundy was expected to poll a few more than 17 votes in 2018, and 2019 saw him take his game to another level.
Truly an extra midfielder, Grundy’s elite work around the ground can be highlighted by the fact he averaged an extra mark and disposal per game, despite his work in the contest staying the same.
There’s a lot of talk about a lag in player voting, and while it proves to be a myth at times, Grundy is staring down the barrel of 20+ this season.
Treloar was always seen as a future Brownlow Medalist from his early days at GWS, but his voting has slowed down over the past two seasons as the Magpies have improved overall.
He dropped below 30 disposals just four times this season and averaged over four marks per game for the first time since his second season in the AFL.
Players that do the hard work in the contest and collect plenty of the ball around the ground tend to do well in the Brownlow.
2019 felt like a season where Treloar stood out, and while it wasn’t in the same realm as Tom Mitchell of 2018, the work rate in transition was similar.
While everyone has their eye on a Dangerfield/Kelly duo taking over Brownlow night, don’t sleep on this Collingwood pair to perform better.
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