Congratulations, Chris Judd - Winner of the 2010 Brownlow Medal!

Wowee! What can I say, except what a massive Brownlow count that was! It simply had everything! Here is just some of what transpired on that fateful night:

• Judd proving the numerous pundits, who didn't rate him a chance, wrong by claiming his second Brownlow Medal.
• A massive polling performance to the goliath in Sandilands, who shot out to the lead early on in the count and eventually finished on a very modest 20 votes for a big man.
• Ablett's slow start to the season in what many thought were a massive few games where he'd poll very well.
• Judd's 5 (Yes, 5!!) BOG 3 vote games in a row, after returning from suspension in Round 4.
• Swan coming up short yet again, with a Top 5 finish to Pendlebury after a great polling performance.
• Hodge not living up to expectations, to finish outside the Top 5.

First off, I must give my very warm congratulations to the man, the myth, the legend, that is Chris Judd. Can you believe the bookies rated him a $21 outsider to take home the medal leading into the count, and $32 (which later lengthened to $51) for the Judd/Ablett Quinella?! Well, not me that's for sure, given I had him finishing a solitary vote away from taking home the medal in my phantom count. Not only did I get on him for the win, I also backed him to finish in the Top 5, AND I backed him in the Judd/Ablett Quinella! Huzzah! I hope some of you out there followed my lead and got on some of this easy money.

Also, some of you may fondly remember what I wrote in my pre-season player preview write up about Judd in this article: Player Preview: Chris Judd where I made the prophetic call that Judd is "one bloke you simply cannot underestimate". I alluded to his uncanny ability to poll votes from nowhere, and do so so effectively within the space of a few games, such as in his injury riddled 2007 season where he played 19 games, and yet polled 16 votes in the first 8 games?

This is what happened this year in his first 5 games in Rounds 4 - 8: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 for a total of 15 votes in 5 games!! Without trying to sound too cocky, this is one of the few calls I made very early on which I am going to proudly hang my hat on, and reaffirms why Judd is my favourite player. The man is a freak!

To compare my count with that of the real one, below you'll see I have listed the real Top 10 Leaderboard, and alongside each player and the votes they polled I have listed in brackets the total votes I predicted they'd poll according to my phantom tally; and the difference in votes between the two tallies.

Brownlow Medal - Top 10.

Chris Judd - 30 (25/+5)
Gary Ablett - 26 (26/-)
Dane Swan - 24 (19/+5)
Scott Pendlebury - 21 (24/-3)
Joel Selwood - 21 (20/+1)

Matthew Boyd - 20 (16/+4)

Aaron Sandilands - 20 (13/+7)

Lenny Hayes - 19 (21/-2)

Luke Hodge - 16 (22/-6)

Leigh Montagna - 16 (14/+2)

As you can see straight away, there are a couple of discrepancies. The first of which is related to the number of votes I had Judd polling, which was even a surprise to me despite the fact I predicted him to poll 25 votes - which many had told me was a little high. Funnily enough, it turns out it was too low! ;P Despite this fact, I still had Judd finishing in the Top 2, so in terms of my positioning I wasn't too far off.

Sandilands was my biggest oversight by a mile, but i'm sure very few predicted he'd poll the way he did. It was simply a phenomenal effort by the big man, and off the top of my head his was the best polling performance there has been by a ruckman for a very long time, if ever.

I slightly underestimated Swan's polling performance, which I thought was the case when I finalized my tally after Round 22. If you compare my tally to that of the real one I predicted that Pendles would steal more votes off Swan, but on the whole I was nearly on the money in terms of the difference in votes between the two.

Hodge was another who underpolled compared to what I, and many others, had him finishing on. But I did state throughout the season that I was quite weary of Hodge given his history of back-chatting the umpires came back to bite him come Brownlow night - and the same occurred this year as well, despite enjoying his best season to date.

The only votes I got spot on were that of Ablett, who I had winning my count by 1 vote over Judd.

Apart from these particular players i'd say, on the whole, I was thereabouts in terms of vote predictions, but it could have been a little better.

Or another way to look at it is that of the players that finished in the Top 10, I correctly predicted 8/10, except Sandilands and Montagna who come in at the expense of Swallow and Bartel. Also, of those in the Top 5 I corretly tipped 3/5, with Selwood and Swan replacing Hodge and Hayes. The only problem is the order is muddled up! My tally is below for reference:

WTS's Brownlow Medal - Top 10.

G. Ablett - 26
C. Judd - 25
S. Pendlebury - 24
L. Hodge - 22
L. Hayes - 21
J. Selwood - 20
D. Swan - 19
A. Swallow - 17
M. Boyd - 16
J. Bartel - 16

In terms of my betting performance, well let's just say that 10k will make my life a little easier for the time being. On the whole I was very successful with my 'Most Team Vote' and 'Head to Head' multis, but my 'Group Votes' are what let me down a little. Overall, comparing my performance to that of last year, I improved my output x5, which has surpassed my expectations by a mile and was a much bigger improvement than what I was expecting, or even hoping for. What's even more crazy is the thought that I could have won more if Sylvia didn't tie for most votes at Melbourne, and Jack didn't tie for most votes in his group in the 'Group Votes' market.

Until next year, I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog throughout the season in what has been Brownlow Talk's first inaugural year of existence, and hope that it has perhaps helped you in some way to have a somewhat enjoyable and profitable night for the 2010 Brownlow count. The reality is this blog would've been nothing without the countless hits it has had over the course of the season, and if it weren't for you readers out there and the support you've provided I would've probably given up updating this blog very long ago. So thankyou! In the mean time, if you have any further questions, feedback, or even recommendations for this blog in Season 2011, feel free to reply below.

Cheers again! :)