It was a quiet round for the leaderboard with little movement at the top, but a former winner did make a move and must be in consideration once again.
Brownlow Leaderboard
| Player | Votes | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1. I.Heeney (Syd) | 19.50 | $3.80 |
| 2. N.Daicos (Coll) | 17.50 | $3.80 |
| 3. P.Cripps (Carl) | 17.00 | $6.75 |
| 4. C.Serong (Fre) | 15.25 | $14.00 |
| 5. C.Warner (Syd) | 15.00 | $10.00 |
Best Bet
Won’t poll after copping the Neal-Bullen tag in their win over the Dees prior to being subbed off with a calf cork, but fortunately for Nick Daicos there weren’t a lot of movers in Round 13.
Heeney is once again a chance of polling, but the trouble for the Swan is competing with Gulden, Warner and on the weekend it was also Brodie Grundy.
Daicos is likely to play this weekend for Collingwood against North Melbourne, which is good enough reason to stick with the Pie as my best bet.
Lay
Wasn’t disgraced by the Cincotta tag on the weekend, but certainly won’t be in the votes in Essendon’s loss to Carlton.
Merrett’s odds have drifted out to $9.50 which is a more realistic assessment but still quite short considering he’s on 13.75 on our leaderboard in 7th spot with Essendon heading into the bye.
With six players behind him in striking distance, five of those playing this weekend, we could see the Bomber slip outside the top-10 heading into Round 15.
Value Bet
He couldn’t, could he? Lachie Neale won his second Brownlow unexpectedly last year, and although Brisbane is a fair way back from what they were this time last year, Neale is producing better numbers in 2024.
Lachie Neale is averaging 29.3 disposals per game this year, up on the 26.7 he averaged in last year’s Brownlow year. The Lion is on 11.25 votes in equal 10th on our leaderboard, and Brisbane has the potential to make a huge charge the next five weeks.
Ahead of them are St Kilda at the Gabba, Port Adelaide on the road, Melbourne and Adelaide both at the Gabba, and West Coast in Perth. They really should win at least four of those games, and if they manage to go on a run we know who is going to poll for the Lions.
