The coronavirus pandemic means that the AFL's night of nights will look slightly different this year. Ditching the traditional red carpet and 1000-seat venue, the Brownlow Medal ceremony will take place virtually in 2020.
There's a clear favourite, who came up just short last year and looks set to take home his first Brownlow this time around. However, a handful of players at longer odds have enjoyed brilliant seasons, so the race for the medal is still wide open.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2020 Brownlow Medal.
WHEN IS THE 2020 BROWNLOW MEDAL?
Traditionally, the Brownlow Medal ceremony is held on the Monday night before AFL grand final day. However the AFL confirmed the event will take place on October 18th this year. That’s the Sunday before grand final day.
WHERE IS IT?
Where isn't it? The AFL has confirmed to clubs there will be functions at six different venues around the country to allow players to stay in their home states or in their hubs.
Channel Seven studios will host players in Melbourne, while Metricon Stadium, the Gabba, the SCG, Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium will host the other functions.
Gillon McLachlan will remain in Queensland, reading the votes out from Metricon Stadium.
The AFL sent out the list of player invites to each club, with 4-6 players from every team getting the call up. Check out the full list further down the page.
Viewers can expect plenty of live crosses to players and partners, while mercifully we may get to bed early, with the winner expected to be announced around 9:30pm, but we're not holding our breath.
MORE: AFL Awards: All Australian, MVP and Rising Star crowned for 2020
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
As usual, Channel 7 will broadcast the Brownlow Medal ceremony. The event is set to start at 7pm.
Hamish McLachlan will again host the event, but in a first, he'll be joined by Jacqui Felgate in a co-hosting role.
WHO WON THE 2020 BROWNLOW MEDAL?
Brisbane’s Lachie Neale has claimed the first ‘Charlie’ of his career, taking home the 2020 Brownlow Medal, beating out Port Adelaide's Travis Boak in second and Melbourne's Christian Petracca and St. Kilda's Jack Steele in tied third.
The Lions midfielder finished on 31 votes to take home the game's highest individual honour, following on from his triumphs in the AFLPA MVP and AFL Coaches’ Association awards for this season, and selection in this year's All-Australian side.
2020 BROWNLOW MEDAL ODDS
| Player | Odds |
| Lachie Neale (BRI) | 1.25 |
| Travis Boak (PA) | 7.00 |
| Christian Petracca (MEL) | 8.00 |
| Jack Steele (STK) | 13.00 |
| Jack Macrae (WB) | 21.00 |
| Patrick Dangerfield (GEEL) | 21.00 |
| Marcus Bontempelli (WB) | 26.00 |
| Dustin Martin (RIC) | 26.00 |
Odds courtesy of Sportsbet and correct as at 15/10/20.
2020 BROWNLOW PREDICTOR
Want the inside word on who's set to take out Charlie this year? Look no further.
Throughout the season, your pals at Sporting News have, just like the umpires, given a 3-2-1 for every game.
Here's what we came up with.
Take a look at the business end of our leaderboard below.
| Lachie Neale (BRI) | 27 Votes |
| Travis Boak (PA) | 21 |
| Christian Petracca (MEL) | 18 |
| Jack Steele (ST K) | 18 |
| Zach Merrett (ESS) | 15 |
| Jack Macrae (WB) | 13 |
| Marcus Bontempelli (WB) | 13 |
| Cam Guthrie (GEEL) | 13 |
| Luke Parker (SYD) | 12 |
| Ollie Wines (PA) | 12 |
| Taylor Adams (COLL) | 12 |
| Dustin Martin (RICH) | 12 |
| Patrick Dangerfield (GEEL) | 12 |
We've got recently crowned AFLPA MVP and Coaches Association player of the year Lachie Neale as the hot favourite to win this year's Brownlow.
According to our predictor, the quest for the Brownlow appears to be a two-horse race, with Port Adelaide's Travis Boak an outside chance of causing an upset.
Interestingly, the 2019 and 2018 winners, Nat Fyfe and Tom Mitchell, have not featured in any conversations about claiming another medal. Fyfe has contended with hamstring troubles this season, while 2020 saw Mitchell play his first games in 18 months after he missed the entire 2019 season through injury.
Want to know how your club will go? Here's our club-by-club vote predictor.
MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2020 AFL Grand Final
2020 BROWNLOW MEDAL INVITE LIST
Adelaide
Rory Sloane, Matthew Crouch, Reilly O’Brien, Rory Laird, Brodie Smith
Brisbane
Dayne Zorko, Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage, Jarryd Lyons, Harris Andrews, Charlie Cameron
Carlton
Sam Docherty, Patrick Cripps, Sam Walsh, Jacob Weitering, Jack Martin, Jack Newnes
Collingwood
Scott Pendlebury, Taylor Adams, Brayden Maynard, Darcy Moore, Jack Crisp, Josh Daicos
Essendon
Dyson Heppell, Jordan Ridley, Adam Saad, Andrew McGrath, Darcy Parish
Fremantle
Nat Fyfe, Luke Ryan, Andrew Brayshaw, David Mundy, Adam Cerra
Geelong
Joel Selwood, Cameron Guthrie, Tom Hawkins, Sam Menegola, Patrick Dangerfield, Gary Ablett
Gold Coast
David Swallow, Jarrod Witts, Sam Collins, Touk Miller, Hugh Greenwood
GWS
Stephen Coniglio, Nick Hayned, Lachie Whitfield, Toby Greene, Josh Kelly, Bobby Hill
Hawthorn
Ben Stratton, Jack Gunston, Chad Wingard, Ben McEvoy, Tom Mitchell
Melbourne
Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Steven May, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney
North Melbourne
Luke McDonald, Todd Goldstein, Jy Simpkin, Shaun Higgins
Port Adelaide
Tom Jonas, Ollie Wines, Travis Boak, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Charlie Dixon, Justin Westhoff
Richmond
Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes, Jayden Short, Bachar Houli
St Kilda
Jarryn Geary, Rowan Marshall, Dan Butler, Jack Steele, Zak Jones
Sydney
Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Tom Papley, Jake Lloyd, Callum Mills
West Coast
Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff, Nic Naitanui, Liam Ryan, Tim Kelly, Brad Sheppard
Western Bulldogs
Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Caleb Daniel, Tom Liberatore, Bailey Williams
BROWNLOW MEDAL HISTORY
The Brownlow Medal, or 'The Charles Brownlow Trophy', is awarded to the AFL's best and fairest player.
It was first awarded in 1924 and has been awarded every season since, barring 1942-45 because of World War II.
The medal is named after Charles Brownlow, a former Geelong Football Club footballer (1880-1891), club secretary (1885-1923), and VFL president (1918-19), who died in January 1924 after an extended illness.
Cats player Edward 'Carji' Greeves won the inaugural medal on a total of seven votes, with just a single vote given from each game to the player the umpire thought was best on ground.
The lowest winning tally has been four which secured Richmond's Stan Judkins the medal in 1930 (later shared with Allan Hopkins of Footscray and Collingwood's Harry Collier on countback), while Dustin Martin's 36 votes in 2018 is the record highest total under the current system.
Four players have won the medal three times: Haydn Bunton (Fitzroy 1931, '32, '35), Dick Reynolds (Essendon 1934, '37, '38), Bob Skilton (South Melbourne 1959, '63, '68) and Ian Stewart (St Kilda 1965, '66, Richmond 1971).
Gary Ablett Jnr and Nat Fyfe are the only current players to have won more than once.
HOW DOES THE VOTING WORK?
At the end of each game in the home-and-away season, the umpires award three votes to the best player, two to the second-best player, and one to the third-best player.
The votes are tallied and revealed on the night of the ceremony, with the player with the most votes receiving the Brownlow Medal (subject to eligibility).
The fairest component of the medal is achieved by making any player ineligible who is suspended by the AFL Tribunal during the home-and-away season. An ineligible player can't win the Brownlow Medal, regardless of the number of votes he has received. This came into play in 1996, 1997 and 2012, when Corey McKernan, Chris Grant and Jobe Watson were all ineligible to win the Brownlow.
PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE BROWNLOW MEDAL
Here's who's won the Brownlow Medal since 2010 - it's a list of some of the best players from the last decade.
| Year | Player | Votes |
| 2019 | Nat Fyfe | 33 |
| 2018 | Tom Mitchell | 28 |
| 2017 | Dustin Martin | 36 |
| 2016 | Patrick Dangerfield | 35 |
| 2015 | Nat Fyfe | 31 |
| 2014 | Matt Priddis | 26 |
| 2013 | Gary Ablett Jnr | 28 |
| 2012 | Trent Cotchin/Sam Mitchell | 26 |
| 2011 | Dane Swan | 34 |
| 2010 | Chris Judd | 30 |
