Dynamic midfield duo Tim Kelly and Dom Sheed led West Coast’s charge at this evening’s Brownlow Medal, edging two of their engine room colleagues on the AFL's night of nights.
West Coast's boom recruit and the 2018 Grand Final hero amassed 11 votes each to finish three votes ahead of teammates Andrew Gaff and Elliot Yeo.
Kelly, who finished fifth in last year's race for 'Charlie', polled on five occasions, including two best afield performances in round six (24 disposals, six clearances) and round 17 (30 disposals, one goal)
The umpires considered Sheed to be the best player afield for the club’s season opening win over Melbourne, its round nine triumph over grand finalists Geelong and the Eagles’ final victory of the year, a hard-fought conquest over North Melbourne.
Gaff, who many consider to be the game’s best accumulator, did just that on the AFL’s night of nights.
He collected votes in six of his 17 outings for the regular season to rank alongside Yeo, who recorded two best on ground honours (round five and 11) before his season came to a premature end due to a groin injury.
Spearhead Josh Kennedy and skipper Luke Shuey were the next best placed Eagles, collecting six votes.
Shuey earned one best on ground honour for his inspiring effort against Hawthorn at Optus Stadium in round 12, while Kennedy got to six votes after registering back-to-back best on ground honours in rounds seven and eight.
The captain and joint vice-captain finished one vote ahead 2020 All Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui and emerging forward Oscar Allen, who finished the count with five notes to their names.
Defender Tom Barrass banked three votes for a best on ground effort against Essendon in round 15, while Jeremy McGovern earned two votes for his towering effort against Greater Western Sydney at Optus Stadium in round three.
All Australian forward Liam Ryan pocketed a lone vote for his three-goal haul against Hawthorn in round 12.
While our eyes were glued to the West Coast leaderboard, the night ultimately belonged to Brisbane midfielder Lachie Neale, who claimed his maiden Brownlow Medal in commanding fashion.
He blitzed the field to be crowned the 2020 season's fairest and best player, cruising to the game's highest individual accolade ahead of Port Adelaide's Travis Boak, Melbourne's Christian Petracca and St Kilda's Jack Steele.
In a record-breaking count, Neale polled 31 votes from 17 games to finish comfortably clear of Boak (21 votes) in second and Petracca and Steele (20 votes each) in joint-third.
The 10-vote margin was the equal-biggest final lead in Brownlow Medal history since the 3-2-1 format was introduced, while his 1.82 votes-per-game was the most in history.
BROWNLOW MEDAL TOP 10
31 Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
21 Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
20 Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
20 Jack Steele (St Kilda)
15 Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
15 Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
15 Dustin Martin (Richmond)
15 Luke Parker (Sydney)
14 Cam Guthrie (Geelong)
14 Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
WEST COAST EAGLES LEADERBOARD
11 Tim Kelly
11 Dom Sheed
8 Andrew Gaff
8 Elliot Yeo
6 Josh Kennedy
6 Luke Shuey
5 Oscar Allen
5 Nic Naitanui
3 Tom Barrass
2 Jeremy McGovern
1 Liam Ryan
