After watching the 2023 Brownlow Medal count, Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson is certain that Jason Horne-Francis will one day take home a ‘Charlie’ of his own.
The young Power star racked up an impressive 16 votes in his first season at the club, easily outpolling what many were expecting him to collect.
In his 16 votes, Horne-Francis was named best afield four times and Brad Johnson believes there’s more of those three vote games for him on the horizon.
While Horne-Francis isn’t a prolific midfielder as he only averaged 17.6 disposals and 4.8 clearances in 2023, Johnson believes it’s the way he goes about collecting his touches that catches the eye of umpires.
If his output naturally increases as he matures, Johnson can see the powerful midfielder dominating counts in future.
“One takeaway from Port Adelaide is that Jason Horne-Francis will win a Brownlow at some stage,” Johnson said via SEN Sportsday.
“Some of the games where he did poll, they weren't huge games in terms of numbers.
“But the way that he plays and that power, his 20 (disposals) is worth a 35 (from other players).
“If he has 20 (disposals) and two (goals) he's getting two to three votes in most games that he plays in and he will improve that possession output as well. That would become 25 plus two goals.”
Horne-Francis finished third in Port Adelaide’s team count.
He finished behind both Zak Butters (27 votes) and Connor Rozee (21 votes).