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Ben Cousins detail comes to light as AFL world calls for change over Brownlow Medal 'madness'

Patrick Cripps won the Brownlow with a whopping 25 more votes than what Cousins polled in 2005.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·5-min read

AFL fans have highlighted a bizarre detail about Ben Cousins as 'proof' the Brownlow Medal voting has gotten out of control and needs an overhaul. Patrick Cripps won his second Brownlow on Monday night, polling a record-breaking 45 votes to win ahead of Nick Daicos on 38.

Cripps' tally of 45 votes is a whopping nine more than the previous record of 36 - jointly held by Dustin Martin (2017) and Ollie Wines (2021). Even Daicos' tally of 38 would have beaten the previous record, yet he had to settle for runner-up.

Cripps' record-breaking haul would suggest he had one of the best seasons in AFL history, yet the reality is far from it. Marcus Bontempelli was voted AFL Players' Association MVP, and many believe he had a far greater year than Cripps.

Ben Cousins and Patrick Cripps at the Brownlow Medal.
Ben Cousins won the Brownlow with 20 votes in 2005 - a far cry from the 45 Patrick Cripps polled in 2024. Image: Getty

Calls have been growing for years for the voting system to be overhauled, with the current system relying solely on the umpires to adjudge the winner. It's believed the umpires don't even look at stats before casting their votes, going purely on 'feel' of the game to determine who they thought were the best players on ground.

But just like we saw last year, there were some curious anomalies in the Brownlow votes. In Round 13, Cripps polled two votes against Essendon despite only being the 11th-best player on the ground according to the Player Ratings system. He kicked at 14 per cent efficiency from 19 disposals, yet was still adjudged the second-best player for the game by the umpires.

Ben Cousins with the Brownlow Medal in 2005.
Ben Cousins won the Brownlow with just 20 votes in 2005. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

In total, there were 17 instances in which a player polled three Brownlow votes but zero from the coaches. Many believe the AFL Coaches Association Award is a better barometer for the best player of the year, and there's clearly a divide in what the coaches and umpires look for.

Marcus Bontempelli had 32 disposals and two goals in the Western Bulldogs' win over Gold Coast in Round 2, yet didn't receive a single Brownlow vote. And many reckon umpires gave one vote to the wrong Daicos brother when Nick polled a vote instead of Josh against Melbourne in Round 13.

Fans have pointed out that Cousins was far and away the best player in 2005 when he won the Brownlow, but only polled a total of 20 votes that year. The fact Cripps polled 45 votes and wasn't in some pundits' top five players of the year is proof to many that the current system needs a re-think. In fact, the entire top 10 in Brownlow voting in 2024 all got more than Cousins' total of 20.

In 2005, Cousins was on a West Coast team of superstars who took votes off him. But Cripps was the out-and-out superstar for Carlton in 2024, meaning if the Blues won a game there was a good chance he polled two or three votes.

Cripps became the first Carlton player to win two Brownlows, after he also won the game's most prestigious individual honour two years ago. "I knew it was my most consistent year. I had to go work on my game at the end of last year," Cripps said. "I'm so grateful ... it's something I don't take for granted."

The 29-year-old revealed he attended a lunch earlier on Monday that featured eight other Brownlow Medallists. Among them were fellow West Australian natives Cousins and Chris Judd.

"They're the two I really looked up to, growing up - they probably inspired me to chase my dream," Cripps said. "I said in the lunch I know I'm now in a position to inspire other young kids and I don't take that lightly."

with AAP