With the AFL award season upon us and the Brownlow just a few weeks away, we decided to have a look at some of the most contentious, controversial and unbelievable Brownlow Medal moments throughout history.
St Kilda legend and 383-game player Robert Harvey is a player whose career deserved a Brownlow Medal, but perhaps he didn't deserve the 1997 award. The hard-working midfielder averaged over 30 disposals a game and even kicked 18 goals, the best tally of his career, but the Western Bulldogs' Chris Grant was hot on his tail after a stellar year.
Grant finished with 27 votes to Harvey's 26 but was ruled out due to suspension. The Bulldogs forward was given a controversial one-match suspension for slapping Hawthorn's Nick Holland, which was not reported by the umpires, but by an AFL official.
The questionable circumstances of Grant's suspension makes Robert Harvey's 1997 Brownlow success one of the medal's most shocking outcomes and somewhat tainted.
The 2012 Brownlow Medal is the most contentious on this list. After Jobe Watson took home the medal with 30 votes, it wasn't until 2016 when the AFL Commission ruled Watson ineligible due to the Essendon drugs saga. This meant that Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell would become the newest Brownlow medallists, four years after the fact.
Both Mitchell and Cotchin had terrific seasons, with Mitchell playing an important role in taking the Hawks to the Grand Final and Cotchin notching up career-bests in disposals (27.6), inside 50s (5.3) and uncontested possessions (14.9). But Watson's year was unequalled and was the head-and-shoulders favourite to take 'Chas' home.
Could Jobe Watson have won the Brownlow without taking the supplements? We'll never know, but the fallout from the saga and its affect on the Brownlow was certainly shocking and never seen before.
In a thrilling count, West Coast's curly-haired midfielder Matt Priddis walked away a Brownlow Medal winner. Priddis had a great season for the Eagles and was the focal point of the midfield, but considering he missed out on All-Australian honours, was not expected to poll well.
Despite polling 26 votes, Priddis can consider himself very lucky as his main competitors fell through injury and suspension. Cross-town rival Nat Fyfe polled 25 votes but was ineligible after being suspended twice, while Gold Coast's Gary Ablett Jnr polled 22 votes before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in round 16.
Matt Priddis is the third man on the esteemed list of West Coast Brownlow Medallists, joining Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, but you can't help but think what could have happened if Fyfe avoided the tribunal and Ablett played the remaining seven rounds.
Entering Brownlow night it was expected that the medal was Gary Ablett Jnr's to lose despite only playing 18 games that season. The night itself had may stories, from the crowd getting behind 34-year-old Matthew Richardson as he rose up the ranks, but it was Cooney's acceptance speech that had the footy world in stitches.
The former Bulldog was an outside chance going into the night after a strong season in midfield and in front of goals. But Cooney, who had clearly not expected to win the award, didn't prepare a speech and had enjoyed a few quiet ones throughout the night, which made for excellent viewing as the accepted the award.
Cooney's 2008 Brownlow victory was certainly one of the most shocking - and entertaining - in the award's history.
It is hard to look past the 2000 Brownlow Medal night as the most shocking in the award's 95-year history. Although Western Bulldogs great Scott West was the favourite to take home the medal, it was Melbourne's crafty midfielder Shane Woewodin who was awarded the game's highest individual honour after polling 24 votes to West's 22.
Woewodin had a solid season, averaging 22 disposals and kicking 20 goals, but despite the Brownlow success, he wasn't good enough to warrant an All-Australian selection. In fact, of the top 10 vote-getters that season, only Woewodin and Michael Voss did not feature in the All-Australian team.
The midfielder never recreated his blue moon year, and was traded to Collingwood in 2002 before being delisted in 2005. But despite all this, Woewodin will go down as one of the game's greats who pulled off one of the biggest off-field upsets ever seen.