Following the outcome of last year's recording-breaking count, it's seemingly harder than ever to predict how the Brownlow Medal race will unfold.
The 2024 count saw the previous single-season votes record under the 3-2-1 format shattered by two players, with Carlton captain Patrick Cripps going on to claim his second Brownlow with a staggering 45 votes.
Cripps will again be a leading contender for this year's award but will have plenty of competition from some of the game's household names.
Here we name seven leading options for the 2025 Brownlow Medal and a further three who could make a late charge.
5. Christian Petracca
A full season for Petracca last year would've had the Demons superstar in the mix for a maiden Brownlow, with his opening half of the season earning him a strong return.
Petracca was limited to just 13 games in 2024 due to his well-documented setback in the King's Birthday loss to Collingwood, which abruptly ended his campaign.
By that point of the season, Petracca had polled 16 votes from his 12 games before the injury, contending with Cripps, Daicos and Heeney toward the top of the leaderboard after Round 12.
With a pre-season under his belt and Petracca looking back to his best, the Norm Smith Medal winner could best his career-high tally of 26 votes.
In the four years before his interrupted 2024 campaign, Petracca's Brownlow votes tally ascended with each season - polling 20 (2020), 23 (2021), 24 (2022) and 26 (2023) votes.
2025 revive that trend, potentially placing Petracca at No.1 come the end of the vote count.
