Normalising votes in the brownlow each year, because in recent years a smaller group of players get more votes, which player had the most outstanding year in the brownlow
Asked 1 October 2026 · answered by AI from every VFL/AFL game since 1897
Normalising each season's vote tally (z-score relative to that year's mean and standard deviation among all players who polled), Lachie Neale's 2020 season stands out as the most dominant Brownlow year on record: 31 votes with Brisbane Lions, about 6.1 standard deviations above the season average — the highest of any player-season in the dataset.
Top 5 normalised Brownlow seasons:
1. Lachie Neale - 31 votes, 2020 (Brisbane Lions) - z≈6.08
2. Bob Skilton - 59 votes, 1977 (Sydney) - z≈5.91
3. Roger Dean - 29 votes, 1954 (Richmond) - z≈5.85
4. Ross Smith - 24 votes, 1967 (St Kilda) - z≈5.76
5. (tie) 1940 Sydney & Collingwood players - 32 votes each - z≈5.73
Note Neale's result is especially striking given modern voting is split across many games/players, making his dominance relative to peers historically unmatched. (All brownlowvotes documents from 1924–2024 included; finals excluded as they don't poll votes.)