Every Brownlow Medal throws up several quirky and curious facts and figures. These are some of the best that relate to Collingwood.
- In adding another 26 votes to his career tally, Dane Swan is now level with current coach and 2003 Medallist Nathan Buckley as the men who have polled more Brownlow votes than any other Collingwood player (164). Swan has played 199 home and away games while Buckley played 250 home and away games in Black and White (and 20 with the Brisbane Bears with whom he polled 14 votes in 1993).
- Swan’s 26 votes would have been enough to have won the Medal in 11 of the past 20 seasons.
- Harry O’Brien’s move to the wing paid dividends in the eyes of the umpires. In 159 games between 2005 and 2012, he had polled only eight votes. After eight rounds in 2013, he had polled five.
- The season began with a 16-point win over North Melbourne but it was Kangaroos skipper Andrew Swallow who stole the three votes with 34 possessions and nine tackles. Swan and Scott Pendlebury had a combined 61 possessions but neither player was able to poll.
- Steele Sidebottom enjoyed an interesting season in the eyes of the umpires. He polled one vote in five games (all in the first 10 rounds of the season) and polled two votes against Essendon in round 19 to bring his season tally to seven – the same as what he polled in 2012.
- Josh Thomas’ eye-catching debut season saw him poll four votes including three as best afield in Collingwood’s win over West Coast in round 22. Thomas’ four votes were the most polled by any first-year Magpie since Dayne Beams collected five in 2009. Mark McGough’s eight votes in his debut season (2002) is the best effort by a first-year Magpie since 2000.
Brownlow oddities
Every Brownlow Medal throws up several quirky and curious facts and figures and collingwoodfc.com.au has published some of the best of them following the 2013 count.