Ablett wins Brownlow Medal Ablett wins 2013 Brownlow Medal Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett takes home the Brownlow Medal once more, narrowly edging former teammate Joel Selwood and Collingwood's Dane Swan. PT1M49S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2uapm 620 349 September 24, 2013 - 6:25AM A stunning mid-season form surge, and a best-afield performance in the final match of the season, have catapulted Gary Ablett to his second Brownlow Medal. The Gold Coast captain became only the 14th player in AFL-VFL history to win the game's primary individual award more than once after leap-frogging Geelong's Joel Selwood and Collingwood's Dane Swan in round 23 with a three-vote performance as the Suns smashed GWS. It lifted the 29-year-old to 28 votes, one ahead of Selwood and two ahead of Swan. After six rounds Ablett was languishing well down the leaderboard with only four votes. Gary Ablett shows off his second Brownlow Medal. He surged to his expected top spot when across the next five matches, he polled 16 of a possible 18 votes, despite the Suns losing several of those matches. By round 12 he had reached 20 votes for the seventh time in his 12 seasons, although he was made vulnerable to fast-finishing Selwood and Swan by polling only five votes across the Suns' next eight matches. By round 20 only three votes separated Ablett (25 votes), Selwood (24) and Swan (23). Ablett said his only disappointment was that he got three votes instead of two in the final match as it prevented him sharing the medal with flint-hard former Geelong teammate Joel Selwood, who took the lead from him in round 21 but did not poll in the Cats' last match. The applause breaks out for Gary Ablett after he won the Brownlow. I did want the two. I was actually shattered when I got the three because Joel deserves to be up here just as much as I do," Ablett said when accepting the award. It was only the fourth time in the past 20 years, and second in succession after Essendon's Jobe Watson last year, the Brownlow has been won by a player whose team has failed to make the finals. No doubt it's an honour. I've said it before but it has been a really challenging three years up there, and I knew when I made the decision to move to the Gold Coast it was going to take time. The favourite: Gary Ablett and Jordan Papalia arrive at the count. "I just really enjoy working with everyone at the football club ... and I'm really hoping we can win a premiership before my time is up," Ablett said of the Suns, whose eight wins in 2013 was a stark improvement on the six wins they managed across their first two seasons. Ablett again rebutted suggestions this latest honour may confirm his place at or even above the mantle of his father, former Geelong superstar goalkicker Gary snr, "because there shouldn't be any comparison. In my opinion my old man's the best player to ever play the game - should have won a Brownlow," he said. North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow set the early pace with 11 votes to round six, and was later replaced by emerging Sydney midfielder Dan Hannebery. The 22-year-old's fine start to the year was recognised with him snaring the lead in round eight and remaining at or just below the top until late in the season, when champions Selwood and Swan took over. That Selwood had not finished near the leaders in the past two seasons - he was in the mid-teens in both 2011 and 2012 - did not hinder him this season, particularly in the second half. Selwood polled in three of Geelong's first four matches but then was recognised in only one of the club's next nine. While he had only 11 votes to round 14 - barely half of Ablett's tally at the same stage - his strong end to the season meant he remained a legitimate chance to snare at least a placing. In the month from round 15, the Cats captain claimed 10 of a possible 12 votes to rise to second position. The benefit of his newly displayed goalkicking skill showed when he received two votes for his 22 disposals in the loss to Adelaide, after he complemented that with three goals. Collingwood's Swan snared only four votes in the first nine rounds, although he was dragged back into contention with maximum votes in the Magpies' next three matches. In the month to round 18 he snared eight of a possible 12 votes to join Hannebery and Selwood in joint second position. The perceived voting bias towards midfielders was exemplified by previously unheralded Adelaide forward Tom Lynch, 22, receiving only two votes for his 10-goal haul against GWS in round seven, and the Giants' Jeremy Cameron getting the same for his seven goals against Collingwood at the MCG later in the year. Lynch's teammate Taylor Walker, a fellow spearhead, tweeted his ire at the decision to give maximum votes to Patrick Dangerfield: "That just goes to show it is a medal for midfielders ... I feel sick!!!!" The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was won by Gold Coast ruckman Zac Smith, who was injured for most of 2013.