The Brownlow Medal race

The Brownlow Medal race is one of the most open in recent history with no clear frontrunner emerging to take home the coveted award.

Geelong’s Tim Kelly has been the favourite for the majority of 2019 after a spectacular second season in the league. The 24-year-old started the season on fire for a Cats team that was sitting 11-1 after 12 rounds, where he is sure to poll well throughout that patch.

However, teams have started to clamp down on Kelly in the second half of the year and consistently shut him down, leading to a big drop off over the last couple of months. The Cats have recorded just two wins since the bye and it is quite conceivable that Kelly has only polled votes in just one of those games.

If he doesn’t poll votes in the games that he is expected to early in the season, you could basically rule him out of contention and his short price is strongly linked to Geelong’s dominant campaign.

Brisbane recruit Lachie Neale has come into favouritism over the last fortnight as his side rides a six-game winning streak to climb into second place on the ladder.

Neale is now all out on his own after another impressive weekend, rocketing into a $3 favourite with bookmakers, while Kelly isn’t too far behind.

Other than Dayne Zorko, Neale is the only real stand out on Chris Fagan’s team and he will have plenty of three-vote performances over the course of the season. The fact that Neale has come into this side and helped transform them from a bottom four club to a genuine top two fancy is sure to play a factor in the umpire’s minds.

The Lions play three of their last four games at the Gabba where Neale does his best work, so this could be the best time to jump on the gun midfielder.

Kelly and Neale are the two short-priced favourites in the $4 or less range, but Neale may be the one whose value is more representative of his chances.

There are a number of other contenders who present great value given how open the pool is this season, meaning it could be a good year to have a punt on some of the prospects with bigger odds. Be sure to follow the sports interaction bonusfor best bets.

Former winner and Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield always catches the eyeof the umpires, and like his teammate Kelly, could be the beneficiary of his side’s strong performances this season.

Dangerfield has polled 33 votes and 17 votes over the last couple of seasons where the Cats have not been nearly as good as they have this year. He has spent more time on the ball this season and Kelly is the only obvious his teammate that could steal votes off him.

Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps has also been right up there throughout the season, but injuries are starting to hinder the 24-year old’s campaign, missing two of the last four games.

It has been a rough couple of months for the bid-bodied onballer. Outside of his dominant showing against Brisbane, deemed by many as the best individual performance this season, Cripps is unlikely to have polled any votes since round eight.

Cripps’ struggles have also been tied to Carlton’s poor performances. With none of his teammates requiring attention, he cops a tag every single week and has been easily shut out of games.

Fremantle captain and former winner Nat Fyfe should never be counted out, especially now that he has enjoyed an injury-free campaign.

He’s still inside the top five favourites with bookmakers at $8, with a $5 gap to Marcus Bontempelli meaning the Dockers skipper could be firming for a top-five place.

The 27-year old did miss last week’s clash against Sydney with an elbow infection, but returned this weekend in a big loss for the Dockers.

Like Dangerfield, Fyfe generally polls well in and doesn’t have much many teammates taking votes off him, putting him in a good position to claim his second Brownlow. His biggest concern could be the Dockers’ recent slump. Prior to their win over Sydney, Ross Lyon’s team had dropped three in a row to fall outside of the eight, and generally the winner comes from a finalist.

Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy and Port Adelaide’s Travis Boak are a couple of outsiders who should probably both have shorter odds.

Grundy has enjoyed his best season yet and has had some massive performances. But the Collingwood midfield always seem to share votes around, with the likes of Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury all chiming in with big games here and there.

Boak could be the better play as Port’s most consistent performer in 2019. Thriving off being put in the midfield again, the former skipper is enjoying arguably the best year of his career at the ripe old age of 30.