The "Flagmantle" train rolls on as the Dockers extended their winning streak to 14 in a row to have a clear lead on the AFL ladder after Round 16. The Swans were upset by Brisbane who are gathering steam late in the season, while Hawthorn have also solidified their position in the top four. At the lower end of the ladder, wins to North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Carlton has made the race to the top ten very interesting with the Giants and Suns now under pressure to make it!
As usual, we’ll share our thoughts from every match of the AFL season, along with our Brownlow vote predictions and projections using our own system which has a proven profitable history over many years. For full details on how it works, see the section at the bottom of the page. We hope you'll use our free Brownlow tips to help you find value during the season and built a green book before the big night.
For links to every round of the season and full count, head to our 2026 Brownlow Medal Leaderboard page and check out the latest Brownlow Odds.
2026 AFL Brownlow Round 16 Overview
With The Bont enjoying a bye week, it was Nick Daicos who once again stood out in Round 16 with yet another best-on-ground performance. Daicos is now into $2.60 favourite, and to be honest, it's probably value, with him currently five votes clear on our current Brownlow leaderboard. Who can catch him? Chad Warner, Jai Newcombe, Harry Sheezel, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Patrick Cripps and Zak Butters were other contenders in the votes in Round 16.
Check out our 2026 Round 16 Brownlow votes below and our updated 2026 Brownlow leaderboard here!
2026 AFL Brownlow Votes - Round 16 Match Analysis
Brisbane 19.12.126 def Sydney 12.11.83
Will Ashcroft (30 disposals, 7 marks, 7 tackles, 8 clearances) was superb with Josh Dunkley (26 disposals, 8 marks, 9 tackles) and Zac Bailey (20 disposals, 6 tackles, 2 goals) also important. Arguably it was Chad Warner who was best on ground as he didn’t stop running on his way to 28 disposals, 7 tackles, 8 clearances and 4 goals. Isaac Heeney (30 disposals, 8 marks, 6 tackles, 7 clearances, 1 goal) will also be a chance for votes, while James Rowbottom (23 disposals, 6 tackles, 2 goals) was also good.
Chad Warner - 3
Will Ashcroft - 2
Isaac Heeney - 1
Hawthorn 14.12.96 def GWS Giants 12.10.82
The Hawks were too good for the Giants who fought it out to push the Hawks all the way. Jai Newcombe was dominant in the midfield with 31 disposals and 15 clearances as the Hawks dominated the clearances. Jack Ginnivan (23 disposals, 6 marks, 7 tackles, 2 goals) was superb with good support from Cam Mackenzie (27 disposals, 7 tackles, 7 clearances, 1 goal) and Will Day (27 disposals, 8 clearances). Finn Callaghan (34 disposals, 1 goal) and Clayton Oliver (34 disposals, 9 tackles, 1 goal) could also challenge for votes for the Giants.
Jai Newcombe - 3
Jack Ginnivan - 2
Finn Callaghan - 1
Carlton 17.15.115 def West Coast 9.10.64
The Blues juggernaut rolls on with six in a row as they thumped the Eagles. Ben Ainsworth (28 disposals, 9 marks, 1 goal) was excellent with Patrick Cripps (31 disposals, 6 tackles, 9 clearances, 1 goal), Sam Walsh (33 disposals) and George Hewett (26 disposals, 2 goals) all winning plenty of ball. Harry McKay (19 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals) was good, while Bailey Williams (11 disposals, 34 hitouts, 2 goals) and Harley Reid (23 disposals, 12 clearances, 1 goal) were best for the Eagles.
Patrick Cripps - 2.5
Ben Ainsworth - 2.5
Sam Walsh - 1
Collingwood 15.16.106 def Richmond 11.6.72
It wasn’t a great spectacle but the Pies did what they had to do to get the win over the Tigers. Nick Daicos will extend his lead in the Brownlow with 37 disposals, 6 marks, 7 clearances and 3 goals in another complete performance. Jordan De Goey (27 disposals, 7 marks, 1 goal), Josh Daicos (29 disposals, 9 marks), Dan Houston (28 disposals, 11 marks, 1 goal) and Jack Crisp (26 disposals, 8 marks) all won plenty of ball while Lachie Schultz (4 goals, 16 disposals) did the damage up forwards. Tim Taranto hit the scoreboard with 4 goals to go with 26 disposals for the Tigers.
Nick Daicos - 3
Jordan De Goey - 2
Tim Taranto - 1
Port Adelaide 13.19.97 def Adelaide 11.5.71
The Power caused a huge upset in the Showdown to defeat the Crows. Zak Butters (37 disposals, 7 tackles, 13 clearances) and Jason Horne-Francis (29 disposals, 10 clearances, 1 goal) were superb in the middle as they combined for more clearances than the entire Adelaide team. Mitch Georgiades (16 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals) was a force up forward for the Power, which was matched by Darcy Fogarty who booted 5 goals from 16 disposals for the Crows.
Zak Butters - 3
Jason Horne-Francis - 2
Darcy Fogarty - 1
North Melbourne 10.19.79 def Essendon 9.11.65
The Roos were inaccurate and should’ve won by more but they got the job done against the Bombers. Harry Sheezel was sensational with 43 disposals at 93% efficiency, as well as 12 marks and 8 tackles. Luke Davies-Uniacke started in a blaze of glory and ended up with 25 disposals, 11 tackles, 10 clearances and a goal to be next best. Caleb Daniel (40 disposals, 9 marks) and Luke Parker (31 disposals, 8 marks) got plenty of touches in the backline under little pressure. For the Bombers, Sam Durham (25 disposals, 6 tackles, 2 goals) and Mason Redman (29 disposals, 12 marks) were the standouts.
Harry Sheezel - 3
Luke Davies-Uniacke - 2
Sam Durham - 1
Fremantle 11.14.80 def Gold Coast 3.11.29
The Dockers rolled on with 14 wins in a row as they kept the Suns to just 3 goals for the match. Andrew Brayshaw (29 disposals, 9 marks, 6 tackles, 1 goal) led the way for Freo with Murphy Reid (28 disposals), Shai Bolton (26 disposals, 6 marks), Luke Jackson (15 disposals, 16 hitouts, 2 goals) and Michael Frederick (4 goals, 7 disposals) all having an impact. Noah Anderson (33 disposals, 8 marks, 8 clearances) was once again best for the Suns.
Andrew Brayshaw - 3
Murphy Reid - 2
Noah Anderson - 1
For those who need a refresher on how our Brownlow vote predictor 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 features 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.
