By SEN
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has been crowned the 2024 Brownlow Medallist, winning the award with 45 votes.
In what was a historical count, the Blues midfielder finished on the podium ahead of Collingwood’s Nick Daicos (38 votes) and Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters (29 votes).
Cripps’ overall tally of 45 votes easily eclipsed the previous single-season record of 36 set by Dustin Martin in 2017 and Ollie Wines in 2021. Daicos’ tally 38 of would have won the medal and set the record in any other season.
While players from 16 teams congregated at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium for the big event, both Sydney and Brisbane stayed home ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final.
After Lachie Neale was handed the award in Brisbane last year, Cripps was able to receive the honour in front of a huge crowd in Melbourne.
Having won the award in 2022, the star midfielder becomes the 17th multiple-time winner and the first since Neale (2020 and 2022) and Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe (2015 and 2019) to achieve the feat.
Across 24 games in 2024, Cripps averaged 28.8 disposals, 8.0 clearances, 5.4 tackles and 4.8 inside 50s a game. He also led the AFL in clearances per game, centre clearances per game and contested possessions per game.
It’s the latest of many awards for Cripps, who has a Leigh Matthews Trophy, four All-Australians and four best and fairests to go with his two Brownlows.
In other awards given out on Monday night, Collingwood’s Bobby Hill won Mark of the Year, while West Coast’s Harley Reid won Goal of the Year for his effort against Melbourne in Round 10.
Adelaide's Reilly O’Brien won the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.
Crafted by Project Diamond