Whateley and King make 2024 Brownlow picks after final round performances

Gerard Whateley and David King have made their Brownlow Medal predictions after Round 24 of the 2024 AFL season.

With the votes all now tallied, we’ll wait until Monday, September 23 for one of the most highly anticipated vote counts in recent memory.

The reason there’s so much excitement around next month’s call is the evenness at the top of many prediction leaderboards with all of Patrick Cripps, Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Lachie Neale and Zach Merrett having standout Round 24 games.

Whateley thinks that Daicos will win a medal after he put in what will likely be a three-vote game on Friday against Melbourne with two goals and 40 disposals … but he feels that he could share the award with Patrick Cripps who fought hard in Sunday’s defeat to St Kilda with 30 touches and eight clearances.

King on the other hand thinks that Cripps will have the award sewn up before Daicos’ final burst in the season’s last fortnight and the duo discussed their picks on SEN Whateley.

King: “Didn't you declare on Saturday that the three votes to Nick would be enough to nudge him in front?”

Whateley: “He will win a medal. Whether he shares a medal or not … I reckon he finishes with a medal in the projecting I've run.

King: “This is the earliest you've ever gone with your Brownlow predictor.”

Whateley: “Only the top end though.

“In Round 24 Nick Daicos gets three. Lachie Neale gets three. What about Marcus Bontempelli? My gut feel is Ed Richards was best on ground, but Bontempelli was in the three (best).”

King: “Bailey Dale was probably second best.”

Whateley: “He's probably one vote at face value, but it's not really how it works when you come down to write the votes.

“Then Patrick Cripps … his third quarter was epic, but he's not the reason in the last quarter.

“I could make the case that Cripps wasn't in Carlton's best three players, but he polls. So, what does he poll? One, two or three? There's got to be a St Kilda player in there, they won the game.

“I reckon he was definitely behind Nic Newman … but he might not get votes, this is my point.”

King: “He probably gets two, doesn't he? Has he put his nose back in front (with that)?”

Whateley: “I think he'll share it with Nick … or he might come one vote short.

“This is where the last round plays a role there. We know there's a modern gravitation to the star players anyway, the game revolves around them.”

King: “I think Cripps has already got it. I think it will already be announced before Round 24.

“The cameras will be already going off and we'll spin through Round 24 so quickly. I think Patrick Cripps is five votes in front with two to go.”

If Neale claims the award, he’ll become the fifth player ever to win a third Brownlow since the 1970s.

Cripps would become a two-time winner if he won after claiming the gong in 2022, while Daicos would become the youngest winner since Chris Judd took home ‘Charlie’ in 2004.