Brownlow Bridesmaids: Who's Next?

Second-place finishes occupy a strange spot at the world’s sporting dining table.

Winners are placed square in the middle, and enjoy being regaled by stories of their rise to the top. We remember the victory laps and the confetti, the tears of joy and the open bus parades through town. 

Sure, we care about the runners-up, but our brain only tends to focus on them after the winner has left to use the bathroom.

It's the same with the Brownlow Medal. The winners will always be remembered, perpetually known for their achievement, while the runner-up will always be someone you’ll have to trawl google for.

We make quite the spectacle of Brownlow night. 

The red carpets are dragged out, Ennio Morricone (RIP) is pumped through the speakers, the winner is toasted with a special little glass of champagne while Bruce McAvaney seems to save his rawest emotions for this night of nights. Special.

Yes it's weird - but that’s sport - while it’s equally curious how quickly we forget the runner-up, and in a season where the Brownlow’s destination is kind of already known, this year’s race for second is actually quite intriguing and well worth taking a closer look at. 

So far this millennium we’ve had 20 different players finish one spot short of taking Charlie home. Of that group, only Sam Mitchell and Chris Judd were able to rise again from near-misses and collect a Brownlow down the track. And even then, Mitchell’s 2012 award has an asterisk next to it owing to the Essendon drugs scandal which ripped away Jobe Watson’s honour. 

Mark Ricciuto, Gary Ablett Jr and Patrick Dangerfield are all players with a second place finish on their resume, yet they’d already collected a Brownlow prior to playing the role of bridesmaid. The bulk of second place finishes are instead filled with hard luck stories such as Scott West, Andrew McLeod and Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey - all absolute, unimpeachable legends of our game, yet a trio of players who narrowly missed out on the league's greatest prestige.

Prior to Sam Mitchell’s retroactive 2012 win, we have to trawl all the way back 1998 and to Nathan Buckley's silver to Robert Harvey, and then back to Ross Glendenning in 1982 to find runner's-up who were later able to go one better down the track.

This year’s runner’s up spot is of course wide open owing to Lachie Neale’s 63.8% winning probability, however will finishing a spot behind the little Lion champ be something of a poisoned chalice? 

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In addition to not being able to win one down the track, the second place finisher’s club appears to be cursed in the immediate aftermath of their loss.

Last decade, no runner’s up club was able to win the flag the season following their silver medal, while we have to go back to Sam Mitchell in 2011 to find a team even good enough to contest a Grand Final the season following that near miss.

It’s actually been 15 long years since a runner up was able to help his club claim a flag a year later and that was thanks to Daniel Kerr and his ‘good vibes’ Eagles outfit in 2006. The next most recent case prior to Kerr was in 1999 when Mark Mercuri finished second to Hawthorn captain Shane Crawford, yet played a massive role on the super-charged, one-loss Bombers of 2000.

Disregarding the fact that very few players have come back from their near miss to claim the Brownlow, nor enjoyed immediate club success, what’s undeniable is how incredibly impressive the actual list of second place talent is. 

In fact, the list of Brownlow bridesmaids over the last twenty years is just as illustrious as the cast of winners, so while on Sunday night be sure to feel sorry for the bloke who just missed out, also know he's just joined some pretty exceptional company.

So, in terms of the race for second, what should be watching for come Sunday night? 

Well Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield could become just the second man in history with three second-place finishes. He’d potentially share that honour with fellow Geelong legend Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves who in fact won the first ever Brownlow medal in 1924. 

Melbourne’s Christian Petracca is absolutely someone to keep an eye on. Petracca came into season 2020 with just 5 career Brownlow votes, yet a second place finish would make him our youngest runner up since Kerr in 2005. He could also become the first Demon since Shane Woewodin’s shock 2000 triumph to secure a place on the imaginary podium.

St Kilda’s Jack Steele has a similar story to Petracca. At just 25, he’s a relative baby when it comes to the Brownlow, yet he'll loom large on Sunday night. Steele’s rise from a GWS expendable, to All-Australian and Trevor Barker medallist with the Saints has been quite the story, helping the club break their nine-season AFL Finals drought in the process.

DOWNLOAD STATS INSIDER'S FREE 2020 BROWNLOW REPORT

And so while Neale’s Brownlow looks as iron-clad as anyone in recent years, there’s still plenty to be distracted by this Sunday outside of the usual pomp and ceremony that characterises the event. 

Yes, Lachie Neale’s win will be momentous and worthy of a toast from the comfort of your couch, however this year’s fight for second might be just as engrossing and worth whatever currency we wish to place on it.

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