2017 Brownlow Medal

The three field umpires (those umpires who control the flow of the game, as opposed to goal or boundary umpires) confer after each match and award three votes, two votes and one vote to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best in the match, respectively. The votes are kept secret until the awards night, and are read and tallied on the evening.

The winner of the 2017 Brownlow medal was Dustin Martin, scoring a record 36 votes to win the seasons best and fairest. For much of the season, Martin and 2016 winner Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) had emerged as the stand-out midfielders in the game, and the pair had been expected to dominate the count;[3] however, Dangerfield became ineligible for the medal in Round 19 after being suspended for one week for a dangerous tackle, leaving Martin as the short-priced favourite.[4] In the week leading up to the count, Martin was a $1.08 favourite with bookmakers.[5]