Once again Before You Bet is back with our rolling Brownlow Medal Tracker for the 2018 season. This season the "Brownlow Bandit" will be providing comments for every game of the season, along with our vote predictions to help with your projections for the 2018 AFL season.
Our Brownlow predictions are one of the most popular aspects of the site with punters able to scoop huge profits in previous years using the information found in these pages. You’ll be able to stay up to date with our live 2018 Brownlow Medal leaderboard, while there will be links to every single round-by-round voting posted there.
For those who need a refresher on how our Brownlow voting system works, we assign 6 votes per game so that our total votes are the same as the official 3-2-1 system, however we break up those votes as we see fit across potentially more than three players. Some games are really tough to call which way the votes will go, so a better predictive model is to split performances and assign half points to each player where there is doubt. So for example if two players dominate and it's too hard to split their performance, they are given 2.5 votes each, with the remaining 1 vote given to another player(s). This will give us a predictive total closer to their true total, rather than guessing. We can then form a 'range' for each player (i.e. a min and max we think players can poll) with the thinking behind this that the variations from the half votes will even out over the long term.
If you intend on using our Brownlow votes to bet why not consider one of the best Australian sports betting sites which offer some great incentives for new customers. Also be sure to check out our Twitter page at @Before_You_Bet and continue returning to the site for our AFL tips, and of course, check out our 2018 Brownlow Round 1 Vote Predictions below!
2018 Brownlow Medal Predicted Votes – Round 1
Richmond 17.19.121 def Carlton 15.5.95
Patrick Cripps with 36 possessions overshadowed Dustin Martin, while Charlie Curnow was the stand out forward on the ground with five goals and ten marks. An even team effort by the Tigers, and Carlton performed well, so they should take the big votes here.
Patrick Cripps - 3
Charlie Curnow - 2
Dustin Martin - 1
Essendon 14.15.99 def Adelaide 12.15.87
Lots of big ball winners in this match, so voting could go a number of different ways. Votes to be shared among Heppell, Zaharakis, Gibbs, Laird and M Crouch who all had 35+ possessions.
Dyson Heppell – 2.5
David Zaharakis – 2.5
Bryce Gibbs – 1
St Kilda 16.11.107 def Brisbane 12.10.82
Jack Steven was the standout on the ground with 32 possessions and two goals, while Jack Billings was also impressive with 26 touches and two goals.
Jack Steven – 3
Jack Billings – 2
Sebastian Ross – 0.5
Blake Acres – 0.5
Port Adelaide 16.14.110 def Fremantle 9.6.60
Port Adelaide were dominant but with 11 players with 20+ possessions, it may be tough to split the best players for votes. Watts, Westhoff and Boak were very good, while Riley Bonner had 31 touches across half-back but may not be known by umpires in just his fifth game. Lachie Neale may pinch a vote with 38 possessions for the Dockers.
Justin Westhoff – 2.5
Jack Watts – 2.5
Riley Bonner – 0.5
Lachie Neale – 0.5
Gold Coast 7.13.55 def North Melbourne 5.9.39
Played in torrential rain will make stand out players hard to spot. Aaron Young with touches are a rare goal was probably best, while David Swallow with 32 touches was also very good. Ruckman Jarrod Witts was also strong with 25 touches and 34 hitouts given the tough conditions for big men, however fellow ruckman Todd Goldstein was also good.
Aaron Young – 2.5
David Swallow – 2.5
Jarrod Witts – 1
Hawthorn 15.11.101 def Collingwood 9.13.67
Easy three votes here with Tom Mitchell racking up a ridiculous 54 disposals. Jaegar O’Meara and James Sicily also good. Steele Sidebottom was best for the Pies with 31 touches and a goal.
Tom Mitchell – 3
Jaegar O’Meara – 2
James Sicily – 1
GWS 20.13.133 def Western Bulldogs 7.9.51
Giants thrashed the Dogs and will take all the votes, but in what order? Stephen Coniglio likely best on ground with 32 possessions and two goals. Kelly, Toranto and Whitfield also prolific ball winners. Toby Greene (25 touches, 4 goals) and Jeremy Cameron (18 touches, 6 goals) were dominant up forward.
Stephen Coniglio – 3
Toby Greene – 1
Jeremy Cameron – 1
Josh Kelly - 1
Melbourne 13.16.94 def by Geelong 14.13.97
Selwood and Ablett were dominant in the midfield with 39 disposals each, really a coinflip as to who will get the three votes. Your guess is as good as mine. Duncan, Petracca and Gawn are likely to fight out for the last vote.
Joel Selwood – 2.5
Gary Ablett – 2.5
Max Gawn – 0.5
Christian Petracca – 0.5
West Coast 13.8.86 def by Sydney 18.7.115
Buddy was unstoppable and clearly BOG with eight majors. Luke Parker is likely next best with 32 touches and a contender for goal of the year. Lloyd, Heeney and Yeo to battle for the one vote, although Nic Nat was also good in his comeback match which might get some attention.
Lance Franklin – 3
Luke Parker – 2
Jake Lloyd – 0.5
Elliot Yeo – 0.5
