St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt has added some extra gloss to a spectacular season by polling the highest amount of Brownlow Medal votes in his esteemed career, finishing inside the top-ten on 19 votes at Monday night’s count at Crown Palladium.
The 33-year-old, who announced his decision to step down as captain after 11 seasons in the role, finished in equal ninth place alongside two 2016 best and fairest winners in Essendon’s Zach Merrett and Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray, while reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Steven polled 16 votes.
Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield completed a phenomenal return to his home city by winning his first Brownlow Medal, adding the game’s most prestigious individual prize to every other award he could have possibly won this season: the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFL Coaches Association Award and every media award offered.
The game breaking midfielder broke Dane Swan’s record of 34 for most votes, eclipsing the mark by one to win by nine votes from Sydney’s Luke Parker, while Richmond’s Dustin Martin was a vote further back in third.
West Coast wingman Andrew Gaff, Sydney midfielder Dan Hannebery and Collingwood midfielder Adam Treloar all finished in equal fourth on 21 votes.
While some players have slowed in the closing stages of their careers this season, causing speculation to mount on their futures in the game, Riewoldt is like a fine bottle of wine; he continues to get better with age.
The six-time Trevor Barker Award winner, who finished third in this year's best and fairest, earned votes from the umpires in nine of the 21 games he played this season.
He got off the mark with a single in the loss to Hawthorn (Round 4) in Tasmania, before polling in the next three games, including two best on ground efforts against Melbourne (Round 6) and North Melbourne (Round 7).
After grabbing one vote for his performance against Fremantle (Round 10) and two in the stunning upset win over Geelong (Round 14), Riewoldt finished the year with a wet sail, accruing eight votes in the last six games.
Riewoldt raced home with three votes against the Western Bulldogs (Round 18) and finished with the maximum for that mind blowing effort against Brisbane in the last round of the season; a performance that has been etched into supporters minds forever.
Reigning best and fairest winner Steven also set a new personal best by registering 16 votes to finish in nineteenth position, while emerging midfielder Seb Ross was the next best Saint with 10 votes.
Steven enjoyed a purple patch through the middle part of the count, earning three best on grounds in the space of four weeks; against Essendon (Round 9), Fremantle (Round 10) and Carlton (Round 12). He then added another three votes for his dominant display against the Bombers in Round 16.
St Kilda 2016 Brownlow Medal Votes
Nick Riewoldt 19
Jack Steven 16
Seb Ross 10
Tim Membrey 9
Leigh Montagna 7
David Armitage 6
Sean Dempster 2
Maverick Weller 2
Blake Acres 1
Jack Billings 1
Josh Bruce 1
Jade Gresham 1
Tom Hickey
Total: 76 votes
