The same trio as last year occupied the podium placings for West Coast at the 2021 Brownlow Medal count on Sunday night, while superstar ruck Nic Naitanui again struggled to catch the umpires’ attention.
Fresh off finishing runner-up to Naitanui in the club champion award, Dom Sheed topped the club’s charts for the first time with 13 votes.
Sheed reversed last year’s top-two placings, pipping Tim Kelly by three votes, while for the third-year in-a-row Andrew Gaff finished in third position for the club with nine.
Now with 109 career votes, the ultra-consistent wingman has climbed inside the top 100 Brownlow vote-getters of all-time, sitting in 91st place.
Despite a stellar campaign which saw him earn another All-Australian berth, Naitanui polled just five votes for the second-straight season.
He was adjudged best afield in the round three triumph over Port Adelaide, after picking up one vote the previous game in the narrow loss to the Bulldogs.
Naitanui polled his last vote in the round 13 epic against Richmond.
Young gun Oscar Allen’s emergence was recognised with two best afield three-vote tallies, in round one when he booted four majors in the win over Gold Coast and for his five-goal haul against Collingwood in round five.
Overall, West Coast polled 61 votes, finishing equal 10th, with 12 players picking up at least one vote.
West Coast Eagles 2021 Brownlow Medal votes:
Dom Sheed – 13 votes
Tim Kelly – 10
Andrew Gaff – 9
Oscar Allen – 6
Nic Naitanui – 5
Jack Darling – 4
Elliot Yeo – 4
Jamie Cripps – 3
Liam Ryan – 2
Brendon Ah Chee – 1
Tom Barrass – 1
Jack Redden - 1
