AFL boss Andrew Dillon responds to storm around wife's comment on Brownlow Medal red carpet

AFL boss Andrew Dillon has revealed the league won't be making wholesale changes to the Brownlow Medal voting system, while also dismissing controversy sparked by his wife's comments on the red carpet. Dillon attended the Brownlow ceremony with wife Amanda on Monday night, and fans thought she'd dropped some massive inside knowledge during an interview on Channel 7.

When asked who she thought would win the prestigious medal, Amanda said she hoped it would be Marcus Bontempelli. But crucially, Mrs Dillon said she'd been "informed" that the Western Bulldogs captain was "maybe not in the mix" with the leading contenders.

The comment immediately lit up social media, with fans claiming the CEO's wife must have been privy to how the votes were going to go and accidentally leaked it. But discussing the situation on Wednesday, Dillon shot down those claims and revealed it was simply a case of a neutral observer realising that Bontempelli probably wasn't going to be able to match it with the likes of winner Patrick Cripps or runner-up Nick Daicos.

"She was very disappointed that Marcus didn't win. He is her favourite footballer," Dillon said. "What she did remind me on Tuesday morning was that she was disappointed, but like she often is, she was right."

Bontempelli won the AFL MVP award in 2024, which is voted on by fellow players. He was thought to be one of the leading contenders to win the Brownlow after finishing third in 2023, but eventually finished equal-14th with just 19 votes.

Leading reporter Jon Ralph revealed earlier on Wednesday that he'd contacted the AFL to clarify the comments from Mrs Dillon. The league revealed that officials only take a look at the final tally of votes after the count has already started, and that the comment was simply a throwaway line from Mrs Dillon predicting that Bontempelli wouldn't win.

AFL won't be making changes to Brownlow Medal voting system

Cripps won his second Brownlow with a record-breaking haul of 45 votes, and even Daicos finished with two more than the previous record. Dustin Martin (2017) and Ollie Wines (2021) held the previous high mark with 36 votes, but that was shattered by Cripps in 2024.

The fact Carlton only finished eighth and Cripps wasn't even in a number of pundits' top-five players in 2024, has sparked fresh calls for a re-think about how the Brownlow is judged. The Brownlow is only voted on by the umpires, and they base their decisions purely off "feel" of the game rather than actual stats.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that a group of senior umpires had approached the AFL requesting access to stats before deciding on their Brownlow votes, but the league had pushed back against it. On Wednesday, Dillon claimed the umpiring group had decided they were "comfortable" doing it without looking at stats, but conceded it was something that might change in the future.

"We trust our umpires implicitly. They are professional, elite athletes (and) incredible decision-makers," Dillon said. "In relation to the stats, it's something that we look at at the end of each year.

"We spoke to the umpiring group at the end of last season and the consensus from the umpires was that they were comfortable making the calls on the 3-2-1 without access to statistics. Again, at the end of the year we'll review all the rules and regulations."

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Many have called for a complete overhaul of the voting system, with some saying it should be taken out of the hands of umpires. But Dillon declared that won't be happening.

"I don't really get caught up too much in the number of votes awarded," Dillon said in regards to Cripps' absurd tally. "The Brownlow Medal's been around for 100 years ... we've got no plans to change the 3-2-1 (system) and we've got no plans to change the umpires awarding the fairest and best player."

with AAP