Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has been crowned the 2022 Brownlow Medallist, winning the award on 29 votes.
In what was a thrilling count, the Blues midfielder finished on the podium ahead of former winner Lachie Neale (28 votes) and Gold Coast’s Touk Miller (27 votes).
Following two COVID-affected years, players congregated at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium with the Swans the only team missing as they remained in Sydney ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final.
Cripps was met with a roaring reception as he polled three votes in the final loss to Collingwood to come from behind and claim the award by one vote.
The inside midfielder is the first Carlton player to win the competition’s highest individual honour since Chris Judd achieved the feat in 2010.
The 27-year-old played 21 games for the Blues this year, averaging 28.1 disposals, five tackles and 7.8 clearances per outing.
It’s the latest of many awards for Cripps, who won the Leigh Matthews Trophy for AFL MVP in 2019 as well as making the All-Australian team on three occasions including this season.
In other awards given out on Sunday night, Mitch Georgiades won Mark of the Year, while Sam Draper won Goal of the Year for his effort against Gold Coast in Round 18.
Geelong skipper Joel Selwood won the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.
Check out the top 10 below.
1 – Patrick Cripps (Carlton) – 29 votes
2 – Lachie Neale (Brisbane) – 28 votes
3 – Touk Miller (Gold Coast) – 27 votes
4 – Andrew Brayshaw (Fremantle) - 25 votes
4 – Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) - 25 votes
6 – Christian Petracca (Melbourne) - 24 votes
7 – Callum Mills (Sydney) - 21 votes
8 – Dion Prestia (Richmond) - 19 votes
8 – Jeremy Cameron (Geelong) - 19 votes
10 – Zach Merrett (Essendon) - 17 votes