To think they said he was a spent force!

It seems laughable now, but many were quick to write off Dane Swan after an off-colour year in 2014.

A little too hasty, as it turns out.

(Then again, Swanny himself did describe his year as "putrid").

The Collingwood champion confirmed his place among the Brownlow Medal elite, moving to eighth on the all-time Medal leaderboard with 17 votes in Monday night's count.

Technically, Swan has claims to be sitting in seventh, for between 1976 and 1977, 12 votes were awarded per game (3-2-1 from each of two field umpires). As a result, Hawthorn legend Leigh Matthews has 202 career votes, but just 173.5 when adjusted to fit the system used in all years bar '76 and '77.

It's incredible to think that Swan has done so at the age of 31.

He played 21 of a possible 22 games, polling on eight separate occasions.

It's a far cry from his tally of five votes twelve months ago, and outranked all bar one (2007) of his first seven senior seasons.

In moving to 186 votes, Swan has leapfrogged his coach, Nathan Buckley, who polled 178 votes in 243 eligible games. You'd have received long odds on that ever happening during the formative years of Swan's career.

The No. 36 also managed to hang onto a record - albeit by just three votes - as Fremantle's Nat Fyfe careered to a Medal-winning 31 votes.

Swan polled 34 votes in 2011, which remains the most recorded by any player in a single season (discounting 1976 and 1977).

Most Brownlow Medal votes in VFL/ AFL history (1924-2015)
246 - Gary Dempsey (Foots/ NM)*
215 - Robert Harvey (St K)
214 - Gary Ablett Junior (Geel/ GC)
210 - Chris Judd (WCE/ Carl)
204 - Sam Mitchell (Haw)
202 - Leigh Matthews (Haw)*
187 - Brent Harvey (NM)
186 - Dane Swan (Coll)

*Dempsey and Matthews earned tallies of 218.5 and 173.5 respectively when adjusted to fit the system used in all seasons bar 1976-1977.

What do Ablett, Judd, Mitchell and Swan all have in common?

They are each products of the famous 2001 Super Draft that has gone on to define football between 2005 and 2015.

For the record, Judd was chosen at pick No. 3, Ablett, a father-son bargain if ever there was one, became a Cat with pick No. 40, Mitchell was plucked from the VFL at No. 36 while Swan waddled his way onto the Collingwood list and No. 58.

Draft devotees have been scratching their heads ever since.

Most Brownlow Medal votes in Collingwood history (1924-2015)
186 - Dane Swan
164 - Nathan Buckley
149 - Len Thompson*
133 - Scott Pendlebury
97 - Jack Regan
93 - Peter Daicos
85 - Bill Picken
81 - Neil Mann/ Wayne Richardson
79 - Bob Rose

*Thompson, Picken and Richardson earned tallies of 125, 57.5 and 73 respectively when adjusted to fit the system used in all seasons bar 1976-1977.


Other Brownlow oddities include...

Bernie Vince has certainly got a soft spot for Collingwood. Since crossing to Melbourne at the start of 2014, the former Crow has polled eight of a possible nine votes from three games against the Magpies. We'll have to send a fully fit Brent Macaffer to him when we meet on the Queen's Birthday next year.

Monday night's count drew the curtain on Chris Judd's illustrious Brownlow Medal career. He polled an incredible 2010 votes to remain fourth on the all-time leaderboard. Twenty-one of those votes were from 21 games against the Magpies. Fortunately, the faithful was spared hearing those famous words one last time: Carlton v Collingwood. Carlton, C. Judd, 3 votes. Congratulations on one of the greatest careers of all time.

Winning games wasn't everything if you wanted to poll well in the Brownlow, as we were reminded on three separate occasions during Collingwood's count. Brisbane's Daniel Rich (round one), Scott Pendlebury (round 14 v Hawthorn) and Steele Sidebottom (round 16 v West Coast) each polled three votes in a losing cause. Pendlebury's game (he had 37 disposals, 10 clearances and 10 tackles in defeat against the team that may win its third premiership in a row this Saturday) was described by Buckley as the best of his career. And the umpires were never going to argue with that.

Five Magpies polled the first Brownlow Medal votes of their careers on Monday night. Jack Frost (round four), Paul Seedsman (round four), Taylor Adams (round five), Adam Oxley (round five) and Jack Crisp (round 11) each had their name read out on national television by league CEO Gillon McLachlan. It's particularly good recognition for Frost, who averages just 8.02 disposals across 44 games (7.50 in 20 outings this season). Key defenders aren't cut out for Brownlow votes, but his eight-disposal, four-rebound performance on ANZAC Day was well received by the whistle blowers. And rightfully so. Even Frost's prototype, Simon Prestigiacomo, managed to poll four Brownlow votes. There's more to a full back's life than just playing see-ball, punch-ball.

Keep an eye out for Adams in future Brownlow counts. He polled the first eight votes of his career and after 61 games appears set to take his game to the next level. And what of his performance against Port Adelaide in round 15? In wet conditions at the Adelaide Oval, Adams managed to kick a goal of the year contender, earn a three-week suspension and poll two Brownlow votes. Life won't be boring with Taylor in the side.

Note: A big thank you to the wonderful AFL Tables for providing the basis for so many of the statistics and facts above. Click here to view the site's range of Brownlow Medal statistics now.