Former St Kilda and North Melbourne midfielder Nick Dal Santo has claimed the 2020 Brownlow Medal is Lachie Neale's to lose following another stunning performance against Essendon on Friday night, per Fox Footy.
Neale collected 33 possessions, 14 contested touches and seven score involvement in his side's 63-point win over the Bombers.
The ball-magnet has become the clear Brownlow favourite in the league ahead of Patrick Dangerfield and Dustin Martin, with Dal Santo speaking on Fox Footy's First Crack -ย believing Neale has managed to poll close to 18 votes so far this year.
โHe is on fire. Iโm going to give him another best on ground performance (against Essendon),โ Dal Santo told First Crack. โHeโs on 18 votes already.
โTheyโve lost two games โ and in both of those games he had 26 disposals and kicked a goal, so letโs assume he doesnโt poll even though he may because he was probably the best for the opposition.
โHeโs had six โbest onsโ and Iโm going to take one off him because there can be some randomness with the umpiring โ thatโs how well heโs going.โ
However, Neale isn't the only Lion to shine in 2020, with fellow midfielders Jarryd Lyons and Dayne Zorko, All-Australian defender Harris Andrews and star goal sneak Charlie Cameron all potentially stealing votes.
But no matter hard his teammates try to take the spotlight, Neale's numbers from all nine games remains unparalleled.
โYou look at his numbers: Heโs averaging 28 disposals, heโs kicked goals this year which he hasnโt always done consistently prior to that. His lowest (disposal count) was 20 and then otherwise 26 has been his lowest twice, so his numbers are enormous.โ
Neale polled 26 votes in the 2019 count, with five best on ground performances and a total of 13 games in the best.
Fellow panelist and former North Melbourne dual-premiership player David King said Neale may already have a very defendable lead at the halfway point of the season.
โThe five one-voters are the killer. So they turn into threes, or at least twos,โ King told First Crack.
โLogic says heโs into short odds now to win it. Eighteen is a big number, but if he is (on 18 votes), itโs over. Heโd have a six-vote lead.โ
