Not a lot of movement at the top of the Brownlow Leaderboard after Round 19, but is there a legitimate challenger currently outside the top-five with five rounds to go?
Brownlow Leaderboard
| Player | Votes | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1. P.Cripps (Carl) | 24.75 | $2.65 |
| 2. N.Daicos (Coll) | 21.50 | $7.75 |
| 3. I.Heeney (Syd) | 21.00 | N/A |
| 4. L.Neale (BL) | 20.25 | $6.00 |
| 5. N.Anderson (GC) | 19.75 | $34.00 |
Best Bet
I’ve had Cripps as my best bet majority of this season, but looking forward a week I feel we will get a better price than $2.65 after Round 20.
Nick Daicos remains in second place on our leaderboard, just over three votes behind Cripps. Collingwood has been poor over the last month but they face Richmond this week so can we pencil in three votes for Daicos?
Assuming the Pies win you would have to think Daicos will be leading the way, while Cripps hasn’t polled against Port Adelaide since 2019. When they played earlier in the season the Blues’ skipper only had 22 disposals – one of his lowest outputs of the season, which was saved by two last quarter goals.
It’s a nice price for Daicos if Collingwood can string a few wins together to close the season.
Lay
Third favourite for Merrett, ahead of Bontempelli and Daicos, is absolute lunacy.
The Essendon skipper played well in their loss Friday Night, but he certainly won’t be polling the three votes, potentially sneaking in for one.
Despite this, we still have Merrett in eighth place on our leaderboard well behind Daicos. With Essendon’s season following the same trend as 2023 where they fall away, plus the fact they have Brisbane, Fremantle and Sydney in their last five games, there is no way Zach Merrett can win this year’s Brownlow Medal.
Value Bet
Off the back of 36 disposals and a goal, Serong will battle for three votes with Andrew Brayshaw in their win over Melbourne.
Serong didn’t manage to crack into the top-five with Noah Anderson still holding fifth spot despite not polling on the weekend, but he’s certainly within striking distance in equal 6th with Bontempelli on 19 votes.
The Dockers have the Eagles in the Derby – a certain win for Fremantle, while Serong polled five votes against West Coast across two games last year. Could we see a last ditch effort by the Fremantle midfielder?
