Three superstars in line for 21-year Brownlow first, and one who can’t win it

Follow our live Brownlow coverage from 1pm at theage.com.au. Fashion editor Melissa Singer and Hannah Kennelly take you inside the suites for an early peak at the gowns and glamour. Marnie Vinall and Nell Geraets bring you interviews and looks from the Red Carpet. From 7pm, Jon Pierik guides you through the count, with insights from our people inside the ballroom.

Patrick Cripps and Nick Daicos are set to go head-to-head for Brownlow glory in a vote count that will have the spectre of Sydney star Isaac Heeney’s controversial suspension hovering over football’s night of nights.

Lachie Neale, Nick Daicos and Patrick Cripps are the leading Brownlow contenders. Credit: Getty Images/Aresna Villanueva (artwork)

The Carlton and Collingwood midfield maestros are the biggest roadblocks in two-time winner Lachie Neale’s path to Brownlow immortality, while Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli should again poll well in what many believe to be a four-horse race for the game’s most prestigious individual honour.

Heeney’s red-hot start to the season should ensure an asterisk on the leaderboard, perhaps even the top, for at least half of the count, though his lull towards the back of the season is expected to spare the AFL the awkwardness of having an ineligible “winner” for the first time in 27 years.

Click here to read article