Maybe not the close finish we had hoped for, but an historic evening nonetheless. Two players tonight polled more votes than anyone had in a season before, but only one could win the medal. That man was Patrick Cripps, with Nick Daicos an unfortunate runner up.

Most importantly, we had a deserving winner. Cripps the two-time Brownlow Medallist feels right to me, such is the calibre of footballer and person we're talking about. A fine leader and a brilliant player, his place in history is now sealed forever.

That's it from me! The blog will return on Saturday for the big one - Sydney vs Brisbane in the 2024 AFL grand final. We hope you will join us for that one. Until then, enjoy grand final week!

"It's a great honour to be up here, it's something I don't take for granted. I was once a young kid that was inspired by past greats and now I know I'm in a position to inspire. All kids out there, if you have a dream, work hard at it and chase your dream you can do amazing things. Life's short so get after it.

"I will say a few thank yous, firstly to the Carlton Football Club as a whole, from the fans to the club , thank you. You gave me an opportunity to live my dream. I will be forever indebted for what you have done for me and my family. Vossy, you are a mentor, a great mate and leader. You have taken the club forward. We're right behind you, thank you.

"I will go to my family. As you know family is a big part of my life, to mum, dad and my two brothers, I know you guys will be ready to have a big one, but I appreciate what you guys do for me. Without you guys, I don't know I could do what I do. It's great to play in Melbourne but also has its challenges and the support from you guys is special.

"Lastly to my wife Mon. You are looking beautiful tonight. I think it's the best kit you ever had so far. Even though she threw me under the bus at the red carpet told everyone I watch my own highlights… What you do for our family, you are a special person. I appreciate what you do.

"To everyone in the room and all the players I love playing against you guys. I love competition. And to the two grand finalist Brisbane and Sydney, it's hard to get there. You know, everyone in the room in this room would love to be there. Good luck. May the best team win. Give it a red-hot crack. Thank you."

It's not the first time Cripps has had to get through this interview, and he certainly carries himself well. A humble champion.

"So many guys have great years, but I knew it was my most consistent year. I had to go to work on my game at the end of last year. I fell there was a few areas I had to go to work on, I shadowed too many games.

"It's only third or fourth time I've played a full season. Gather Round adds an extra game, and that's why the count is probably higher than what it usually is.

"You never know on Brownlow night, that's what makes it exciting. As you know the votes can change and players may get 20 (disposals) and poll and I think that's what makes tonight special because you don't know what's going to unfold.

"Mate, I'm super grateful to be up here. It's something I don't take for granted."

Patrick Cripps is now a two-time Brownlow Medallist, with the most dominant polling performance in the history of award (at least since it went to the 3-2-1 method).

A leader, a champion and now true legend of the game Cripps has joined an illustrious group in becoming a dual Brownlow winner. Somehow he is still getting better, with this season probably even better than his 2022 winning year.

One of the toughest, smartest and most inspirational players in the game, nobody can question the merits of this award tonight and of the man in question.

Andrew Dillon is on fast-forward, understandably.

Three more for Lachie Neale. Marcus Bontempelli finishes up on 19 votes.

Zak Butters gets himself up to 29, a great haul.

Three more for Nick Daicos, who now has the second-best polling year in Brownlow history. Unfortunately, the bloke ahead of him is about two tables away.

THREE MORE FOR PATRICK CRIPPS! He finishes on 45 votes!

We're going to blitz through these last few rounds now, pray for my keyboard.

The big question now is whether Cripps can crack the 40-vote barrier.

Three more for Nick Daicos, who might also break the record but not win. Which is frankly ridiculous.

Three more for Patrick Cripps! He's up to 42! It's completely incredible.

And with a record vote tally that is still growing.

Here we go, this will likely be it.

Three for Tom Green, he is still racking them up.

Zak Butters takes three, he's up to 25.

Nothing for Patrick Cripps! Daicos needs three against Collingwood to keep it alive.

Nick Daicos polls two! Patrick Cripps has won the Brownlow Medal!

Is this the one for Mr Cripps? Can he poll in Scott Pendlebury's 400th, and a Carlton defeat to Collingwood?

Adam Treloar wins two more votes and is up to an impressive 24.

One for Tom Green, he's up to 23.

Lachie Neale's three take him to 19, which is closer to where he might have been expected.

Here we go, Collingwood-Carlton.

Two for Nick Daicos...

But three for Patrick Cripps! He is guaranteed at least a share of the medal and has broken the record! Nick Daicos can catch him to tie if he polls nine in the last three games and Cripps' polls nothing.

That almost certainly isn't going to happen.

Theoretically, I'm pretty sure Patrick Cripps could wrap it up in this round.

Three more votes for Caleb Serong take him to 25. A massive year from the Docker.

Cripps just needs to lead by more than 12 after this round. He leads by 11 currently.

No votes for Patrick Cripps! The wait will go on for at least one more round of voting.

Three votes Nick Daicos! He's still technically alive. He's eight votes back with four rounds to count.

Zak Butters has sneakily moved up to 20 votes with three in round 19.

A couple more for Errol Gulden take him to 23 and third place, for now.

Nothing for Tom Green.

Nothing for Nick Daicos (and three for Jack Ginnivan against the Pies, which is a bit of fun).

Three more for Patrick Cripps. He's tied the record. We're just waiting to find out how much he breaks it by now.

For some reason all of the footage from Sydney looks like it's straight out of The Office. At least the boys are having a nice night.

Andrew Dillon has been given the hurry up and we are flying now.

Three more for Lachie Neale, but he's too far back.

Three more for Tom Green! Very strong year for the Giant.

Two for Chad Warner and three for Errol Gulden.

Two for Nick Daicos, who looks like he knows he's too far back now.

Two more for Patrick Cripps, who is closing in on both the medal and the record.

After a bit of a break, we're back to the votes. Going to have to be a serious turn of events for a certain P Cripps to be stopped now.

No votes for Caleb Serong this week.

Three for Lachie Neale take him to 10. Surprised at his low polling to be honest.

One for Chad Warner, three for Errol Gulden to get him on the leaderboard.

One for Nick Daicos and two for Zach Merrett.

One for Patrick Cripps and three for Tom Green.

Maybe the perfect man for the job, the former Melbourne midfielder delivers an honest and heartfelt address to the league's retiring players.

A special moment.

The most votes ever received under the 3-2-1 system is 36, by Dustin Martin in 2017 and Ollie Wines and 2021.

I would be stunned if Cripps doesn't surpass that tonight.

Two more for Bulldog Adam Treloar, who is racking them up like crazy tonight.

A couple more votes for Caleb Serong, nothing for Isaac Heeney or Chad Warner in that game.

Three for Nick Daicos! Maybe the only man who could catch Cripps from here.

Good luck with that though! Three more for Patrick Cripps. He has THIRTY VOTES after 16 rounds! That is absurd.

Rapidly approaching the business end now.

One vote for Chad Warner, who cracks 20. Errol Gulden's three get him to 15.

Two for Caleb Serong who is still keeping pace.

Three votes for Patrick Cripps! Goodness me, he might break some records tonight.

He's going to be hard to run down from here, and is expected to poll in plenty of Carlton's games through the run in.

Brownlow number two could soon be heading the champion Blue's way.