Gold Coast midfield star Gary Ablett has won his second Brownlow Medal, seeing off fierce competition from Joel Selwood and Dane Swan.
Ablett picked up the AFL’s best and fairest award after polling 28 votes, though after taking an expected early lead in the tally, had to come from behind with three votes in the final round to clinch the award.
Geelong’s Selwood took a late lead after he was awarded three votes in round 21, having cashed in during the Cats’ huge win over West Coast.
Collingwood’s Swan – who won the medal in 2011 – had collected three votes over round 21 and 22 to sit on 26 votes, a point ahead of Ablett.
But when neither Swan nor Selwood polled in round 23, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou left Gold Coast’s match against the Giants for the last read-out, finally announcing Ablett as the winner of three votes to pip Selwood at the death.
Look back on our live blog to see how the voting count unfolded.
