Every team has now played the same number of matches for the first time and only the Western Bulldogs remain undefeated in season 2026. Round 4 saw Melbourne land a great win against the Gold Coast, while Fremantle and Hawthorn landed exciting victories against fellow contenders to boost their chances this season. The pressure mounts on the Blues and coach Michael Voss after another disappointing loss, while Essendon and Richmond remain planted on the bottom of the ladder and winless so far.
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 4 Overview
With Nick Daicos a surprising late out from the Collingwood side in Round 4, it left the door open for Marcus Bontempelli to add another best-on-ground performance to jump to the top of our 2026 Brownlow leaderboard. Could it be a two-horse race this season? Others who might have a say in that include Zak Butters, Bailey Smith, Max Gawn, Caleb Serong, Isaac Heeney, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Will Ashcroft who were all among the Brownlow votes again during Round 4 action.
Check out our 2026 Round 4 Brownlow votes below and our updated 2026 Brownlow leaderboard here!
2026 AFL Brownlow Votes - Round 4 Match Analysis
Brisbane 17.17.119 def Collingwood 10.5.65
With Nick Daicos unable to get through the warm-up the Pies lacked the spark required to compete with the reigning premiers. Will Ashcroft (36 disposals, 6 marks, 6 clearances, 1 goal) might offer some value in Brownlow betting markets as he had another superb match. Lachie Neale (29 disposals, 8 marks, 6 clearances), Zac Bailey (25 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals), Keidean Coleman (22 disposals, 10 marks) and Logan Morris (20 disposals, 9 marks, 3 goals) were also excellent. There weren’t too many winners for the Pies.
Will Ashcroft - 3
Zac Bailey - 2
Logan Morris - 1
North Melbourne 14.12.96 def Carlton 13.8.86
The Kangaroos kicked the last five goals of the game to storm home and make it a Good Friday at Arden Street. It was a good team effort for the Roos with Colby McKercher (24 disposals), Caleb Daniel (27 disposals, 10 marks), Luke Davies-Uniacke (22 disposals, 6 tackles, 9 clearances), Cooper Trembath (11 disposals, 6 marks, 11 hitouts, 3 goals) and George Wardlaw (16 disposals, 11 tackles) all having big moments that helped the Roos over the line. Marc Pittonet (11 disposals, 39 hitouts, 2 goals) and Oli Hollands (21 disposals, 10 marks) were best for the Blues. Tough game for votes.
Luke Davies-Uniacke - 3
Marc Pittonet - 2
Caleb Daniel - 1
Adelaide 11.10.76 def by Fremantle 11.12.78
The Crows hit the lead late but couldn’t hold on once again as the Dockers got the points. Caleb Serong (32 disposals, 8 tackles, 6 clearances), Andrew Brayshaw (25 disposals, 10 tackles, 7 clearances, 1 goal) and Murphy Reid (26 disposals) were the stand outs around the ball, while Jye Amiss (4 goals, 10 disposals) was good up forward. James Peatling (26 disposals, 8 clearances, 1 goal) was excellent for the Crows.
Caleb Serong - 3
Andrew Brayshaw - 2
James Peatling - 1
Richmond 6.12.48 def by Port Adelaide 13.12.90
The Power got the job done against the Tigers in a match between two teams that will struggle in 2026. Zak Butters (30 disposals, 6 clearances) wasn’t dominant but easily collected the most disposals on ground. Aliir Aliir (23 disposals, 8 marks) and Kane Farrell (24 disposals) were also very good for the Power and should be in the votes. Dion Prestia (24 disposals, 6 marks) was solid for the Tigers.
Zak Butters - 3
Aliir Aliir - 2
Kane Farrell - 1
West Coast 4.11.35 def by Sydney 24.19.163
An absolute thumping by the Swans brought the Eagles crashing back to Earth. Isaac Heeney returned from injury and was brilliant with 26 disposals, 8 marks and 4 goals. Not far behind was Brodie Grundy who dominated the ruck with 33 hitouts, a match-high 28 disposals, 9 clearances and a goal. The others will be left to fight for the one Brownlow vote with Tom Papley (24 disposals, 10 marks, 2 goals), Jai Serong (27 disposals, 10 marks, 1 goal) and Riley Bice (27 disposals, 9 marks) all a chance.
Isaac Heeney - 3
Brodie Grundy - 2
Tom Papley - 1
Melbourne 16.13.109 def Gold Coast 14.5.89
Melbourne caused one of the upsets of the season so far as they were too quick for the previously undefeated Suns. The win was setup by Max Gawn (22 disposals, 32 hitouts, 1 goal) in the middle, with Jack Steele (26 disposals, 8 tackles, 11 clearances), Kysaiah Pickett (25 disposals, 6 clearances, 1 goal) and Tom Sparrow (21 disposals, 10 tackles) all too strong. Daniel Rioli (23 disposals) and Lachlan Gulbin (22 disposals, 8 marks, 1 goal) were best for the Suns.
Max Gawn - 3
Jack Steele - 2
Kysaiah Pickett - 1
Western Bulldogs 14.15.99 def Essendon 9.11.65
The Dogs were expected to blow them away, but the Bombers hung in there to keep things competitive throughout the evening. Marcus Bontempelli (35 disposals, 8 marks, 7 clearances, 1 goal) was outstanding and has now firmed into favouritism in the latest Brownlow Odds. Matthew Kennedy (36 disposals, 11 clearances, 1 goal) and Ryley Sanders (34 disposals, 6 marks) were also very busy. Archie Roberts (37 disposals, 12 marks) and Zach Merrett (30 disposals, 7 tackles, 7 clearances) were best for the Bombers.
Marcus Bontempelli - 3
Matthew Kennedy - 2
Archie Roberts - 1
Hawthorn 13.14.92 def Geelong 14.7.91
It was the definition of a classic, as the Hawks plucked a miraculous one-point victory over the Cats in front of a packed MCG on Easter Monday. Josh Ward (29 disposals, 6 tackles) was outstanding, with good support from Connor Macdonald (26 disposals, 8 marks) and Jack Ginnivan (19 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals), while Jack Gunston (14 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals) was a constant threat up forward. Bailey Smith (33 disposals, 6 clearances) was tireless for the Cats to clearly be their best.
Josh Ward - 3
Bailey Smith - 2
Connor Macdonald - 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.
