Not much separated the performances of Scott Pendlebury and Dayne Beams in season 2014.

One averaged 28.38 disposals, the other 27.16.

One took 75 marks, the other held 68.

They were separated by only 16 tackles by the time their season had finished, and both were named in the AFL’s 40-man All-Australian squad.

So it’s little wonder that the AFL’s field umpires couldn’t split the pair when they filed their Brownlow Medal votes across the 23 rounds.

Pendlebury and Beams were tied together at the top of Collingwood's leaderboard with 16 votes apiece.

They were streets ahead of their nearest Magpie rival, the ineligible Steele Sidebottom, who finished on nine votes.

Jamie Elliott received six votes, double his previous career tally, while 2011 winner Dane Swan polled just five votes and none after round six.
Travis Cloke took home four votes, Alex Fasolo and Tom Langdon each polled their first, and Josh Thomas and Clinton Young also earned a singular nod from the umpires.

Notable
~ Pendlebury was voted best afield just twice in 21 games, despite averaging 28.38 disposals across the season. Interestingly, both of his three-vote performances were recorded in New South Wales at either end of the season.

~ The count marked Swan’s lowest Brownlow Medal tally since he first earned a vote in 2006. Battered by injury for much of the year, Swan hit top gear when he polled five of a possible six weeks during rounds five and six but did not resurface after that.

~ The news isn’t all bad for Swan, who moved past current coach Nathan Buckley as the player to have received more Brownlow votes than any other in Collingwood history. The pair entered the count locked on 164 votes (Buckley received 178 across his career, 14 of which came in his only season as a Brisbane Bear in 1993), with Swan moving past his coach when he polled two votes against the Kangaroos in round five.


~ Beams bounced back into his best vote-winning form, polling 16 votes to take his career tally to 44 in 110 games. He polled just one during an injury riddled 2013 but proved his worth with 19 in 2012.

~ West Coast’s Matt Priddis, the overall winner, made Collingwood pay in both meetings in 2014. He won 35 disposals and laid eight tackles in round 10 before collecting a season-high 42 disposals and seven tackles in round 20. He deservedly polled three votes on both occasions, a remarkable effort for a man who had received just one vote in his previous eight home and away games against the Magpies. Amazingly, it came in a 100-point loss at the MCG in round 10, 2008.

Collingwood at the Brownlow Medal – 2014
16 – Dayne Beams, Scott Pendlebury
9 – Steele Sidebottom*
6 – Jamie Elliott
5 – Dane Swan
4 – Travis Cloke
1 – Alex Fasolo, Tom Langdon, Josh Thomas, Clinton Young*
*Denotes ineligible

Overall Brownlow Medal leaderboard – 2014
26 – Matt Priddis (West Coast)
22 – Gary Ablett Junior (Gold Coast), Lance Franklin (Sydney)
21 – Travis Boak (Port Adelaide), Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide), Josh Kennedy (Sydney), Joel Selwood (Geelong)
18 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
16 – Dayne Beams (Collingwood), Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
15 – Jordan Lewis (Hawthorn), Callan Ward (Greater Western Sydney)