The 2023 AFL season will go down as one of the all-time greatest years of footy seen in our code, with countless high-profile storylines generated on the field and off the field.

On the field, we saw controversy, comebacks, clutch moments, big games and maybe the greatest Grand Final ever.

Off the field we saw drama, sackings, major acquisitions and a Brownlow Medal count out of a fantasy novel.

With endless headlines to pick from, see below what we picked as the top 10 AFL stories of the 2023 calendar year.

6. A Brownlow Medal count for the ages

By Round 21, 2023 the race for Charlie was all but decided. The 20-year old phenom from Collingwood, Nick Daicos, had pulled off the greatest start to a career in AFL history and would simply need to be on the field for the final home and away matches to claim his first Brownlow Medal.

Sam Mitchell and his Hawks put the story to a grinding halt as, not for the first time, tagging machine Finn Maginness was sent to the opposition's best player and this time around, was able to quell Daicos to his clear career-worst performance.

Beyond being nowhere near polling votes for the game, matters were made dramatically glum by a forward 50 contest in which Daicos was targetted and sandwiched between two Hawks, cracking his knee in the process and leaving the entire footy world in disbelief.

A hairline fracture was the diagnosis and a six-week stint on the sidelines was the result for Daicos in an incident that retroactively led to the most dramatic Brownlow medal count you'll ever see.

Daicos, left stranded on 28 votes by his final home and away appearance, stunningly held onto the lead until the deciding Round 24, where favourite Marcus Bontempelli took the lead with three votes against Geelong, taking his tally to 29.

In an astonishing twist, the final votes of the night were awarded to Brisbane's Lachie Neale, taking his tally to a winning total of 31, giving him dual-Brownlow medallist honours, a feat which only Nat Fyfe has replicated among today's crop of players.

Bontempelli was left to suffer yet another runner-up, while Daicos was left to respond to the heartbreak on the field just five days later in the big dance.