The 2023 Brownlow Medal awaits on Monday evening, with the league's best and fairest competitor set to be recognised at Melbourne's Crown Palladium.
This year's count appears likely to go right down to the wire, withย Western Bulldogsย captainย Marcus Bontempelliย and Collingwood father-son gunย Nick Daicosย representing the two main favourites to take out the prestigious award.
Daicos was considered the runaway winner prior to injuring his knee in Round 21, subsequently leaving the door open to a potential Bontempelli swoop, with the likes of Melbourne's Christian Petracca, Port Adelaide'sย Zak Butters, and Sydney'sย Errol Gulden also slated to press for high finishes on Monday.
The question is, though, did 'Bont' do enough in Daicos' three-game absence to get over the top of the magnificent Magpie in the umpires' unpredictable voting?
We made our top-five prediction in anticipation of Monday night's count.
5. Fifth place: Errol Gulden (Sydney Swans)
In terms of maximising votes, Gulden appears likely to be one of the main beneficiaries of Sydney's barnstorming finish to the home-and-away season.
The Swans won five of their last six regular season matches to storm into this year's finals series, with Gulden being a large reason why John Longmire's men triumphed in those contests.
Gulden finished fourth in the 2023 Zero Hanger MVP with 202 votes; just one vote shy of Brisbane's Lachie Neale and five votes clear of the sidelined Daicos.
The 21-year-old averaged 26.8 disposals per game this season, to go along with 5.2 marks, and 5.0 tackles. Further, Gulden ranked first in the AFL in inside-50s per game, second in metres gained per game, and third in the league in kicks per game.
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
The Swans' burgeoning Academy graduate averaged 28.3 disposals across Sydney's six-game winning streak from Rounds 18-23, placing the wingman in a strong position to make a late-count surge towards the top-five.
