The 2021 Brownlow Medal was the 94th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the best and fairest player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. For the second year in a row, due to the travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the ceremony was not held in Melbourne but instead a mainly made-for-television event, with players attending their nearest function in four different states. With Perth hosting the 2021 AFL Grand Final, the main function was held at Optus Stadium on Sunday, 19 September 2021.[1]

2021 Brownlow Medal
2021 Brownlow Medallist, Ollie Wines
DateSunday, 19 September 2021
LocationOptus Stadium, Various venues
Hosted byHamish McLachlan, Jacqueline Felgate (from Melbourne)
Basil Zempilas (from Perth)
WinnerOllie Wines (Port Adelaide)
(36 votes)
Television/radio coverage
NetworkSeven Network
Telstra
← 2020 · Brownlow Medal · 2022 →

Ollie Wines of the Port Adelaide Football Club won the medal with 36 votes, equalling the record set by Dustin Martin in 2017 Brownlow Medal for most votes in a season under the 3–2–1 voting system, until it was broken by Patrick Cripps in 2024.[2]

Leading vote-getters

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Player Votes
1st Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide) 36
2nd Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs) 33
3rd Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) 31
4th Sam Walsh (Carlton) 30
=5th Darcy Parish (Essendon) 26
Jack Steele (St Kilda)
=7th Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) 25
Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
=9th Jarryd Lyons (Brisbane Lions) 23
Christian Petracca (Melbourne)

Voting procedure

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The three field umpires (those umpires who control the flow of the game, as opposed to goal or boundary umpires) confer after each match and award three votes, two votes, and one vote to the players they regard as the best, second-best and third-best in the match, respectively. The votes are kept secret until the awards night, and they are read and tallied on the evening.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Worsfold, Embley to hand out Grand Final medals". ESPN.com. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Brownlow Medal Winners". AFL Tables. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Brownlow Medal history and winners - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Retrieved 27 August 2018.