Matt Rowell wins 2025 Brownlow Medal as Gold Coast star beats out Nick Daicos and Bailey Smith

That was one I reckon we’ll be talking about for quite a while. Total congratulations to Matt Rowell, who is a freakish player and a worth winner of the 2025 Brownlow.

But a few sideshows and curious decisions will take the headlines from this count. These are headlines you can read right here on ABC Sport, so check back in tomorrow morning for all the wash up and analysis from tonight.

Plus! It’s grand final week! We’re officially on the countdown now to Saturday afternoon and Geelong vs Brisbane, a grand final I think might end up becoming a classic. We’ll have all the build up through the week and then full coverage on the day.

Hope to see you then, and thanks for your company tonight.

Matt Rowell has become the second Gold Coast player to win a Brownlow Medal. The first? Gary Ablett Jr. Fair company.

Rowell and Noah Anderson combined for 64 Brownlow votes tonight, which I believe is a record for two players from the same team.

I think the umpires already have an insanely hard job trying to officiate the game and are under enough pressure as it is. I think the evidence has stacked up that they are not in the best position to judge influence within a game as a result, and it’s not really fair to expect them to be able to accurately.

I also don’t think stats are the be-all, end-all when it comes to this sort of thing but they do tell some part of the story. Umpires either need to have access to stats when they register their votes, or somebody else should be doing the voting. I don’t know who, but I think the time has come for that conversation.

The Wanganeen-Milera thing has fried my brain so totally I don’t think I’ll ever recover.

“It was an amazing experience that first final, obviously, to make finals for the first time as a footy club was really special.

“There have been a lot of people before me that have gone to the club that have done a lot of work, guys like Dave Swallow, Touk Miller. I could name a lot of people.

“They had been through a lot of hard work and didn’t have a lot of success and maybe got slandered a fair bit. To see the happiness and joy in the room after winning that and what it meant to a lot of people, I think I made the right decision and I really love playing with this team.”

A fearsome duo. Anderson himself finished up with 25 votes tonight.

“It is kind of cool going through the whole journey with him. I think I might have pinched a few votes off him that he should have got.

“Just to go through the whole journey which with him and go to Carey and to be drafted together was cool. It made it a lot easier I guess to transition into the AFL.

“I love playing with him but I love him as a mate as well. That friendship means a lot to me and it is not very often that you get to go to an AFL club with your best mate.”

He shakes off some early nerves as he launches into some answers and some thank yous.

“I always wanted to play AFL. I knew from a young age that is all I wanted to do. You know, it might sound a little bit arrogant, but I knew I wanted to be an AFL player and I had a feeling that I was going to get there.

“There was nothing really that I thought of doing, apart from playing AFL footy. That was the goal growing up. I lived and breathed it, really. I guess thinking about that now it is pretty cool to be standing up here.”

There is going to be a lot of things said about this Brownlow count tonight, but surely nobody will question Rowell’s worthiness of becoming a Brownlow Medallist. Since making a stunning start to his AFL career a few years ago we’ve all been waiting for this night, and perhaps we should have seen it coming.

Rowell is the ultimate midfield bull, tougher than most and almost impossible to tackle. But what he has added this year is a running power outside the contest, which has taken his game to another level and elevated the Suns into the finals for the first time.

He’s a unique footballer, certainly not out of place among the list of Brownlow winners of the modern age. At just 24 years old, you’d be brave to predict this will the last one of these he wins.

Okay, we’re just racing through the last two round now for the fun of it. They butchered that, by the way. Nobody knew what was happening.

I can’t keep up with this right now, Dillon is just spitting out words and numbers.

More votes for Rowell, three for Daicos I think. For one of the games. Bailey Smith! Forgot about him, he gets a few more.

None for Daicos in the last round so he finishes on 32.

One more for Matt Rowell in the final game, so he finishes on a whopping 39 votes.

Nearly there.

Two for Jordan Dawson who is just fighting for a spot on the podium now.

Three votes for Caleb Serong, but none for Andrew Brayshaw who is probably out of it now.

Nothing for Nick Daicos.

Two votes for Matt Rowell, who now has an eight vote lead. I think he just won?

He just won. Nobody realised. Matt Rowell just won the Brownlow.

I’m still so aggressively rattled by that Nas snub I don’t know how I’ll recover.

There you go, three votes against North for Wanganeen-Milera. That helps.

Nothing for Nick Daicos, one more for Matt Rowell. We’re closing in on mathematically impossible areas.

Honestly, what are we even doing here? If anything is going to force a rethink as to how this award is decided, it is this moment right here.

This was the Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera game round. Highlights still go off.

Nothing for Jordan Dawson.

Get this. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera only got two votes that game. Jack Viney got the three. The entire room has just burst out laughing in disbelief.

Two votes for Andy Brayshaw.

Three votes for Nick Daicos.

Three votes for Matt Rowell.

Five games left, I can’t see them catching him.

Tim Taranto has quietly amassed 20 votes so far, which is some going in a struggling Tigers team.

Dockers vs Pies. One vote for Nick Daicos, two for Caleb Serong and none for Andrew Brayshaw.

The Suns were absolutely smashed by Adelaide in this one… but two votes Matt Rowell! Yep, I think this is over.

At the rate he’s been polling tonight, it’s hard to see how he doesn’t win every Brownlow, every year, forever. If he plays well, three votes. If he plays just okay, two votes.

Rowell is such a brute of a player, the most impressive work he does is always right under the umpire’s nose. He’s pretty hard to miss and is an obvious candidate for an award like this.

Andrew Dillon is blitzing through half the games every round now as only a handful are really mattering.

One vote for Jordan Dawson here.

Three more votes for Andrew Brayshaw! Tell you what, he’s going to give it a go.

Suns vs Magpies, this is big. Two for Matt Rowell, and none for Nick Daicos! We’re getting pretty close to this being Rowell’s Brownlow.

Eight games left for most of these guys to poll in. Going to start getting nervy soon.

One vote for Jordan Dawson as he cracks the 20s for the first time in his career.

Two votes for Andrew Brayshaw.

Three votes for Nick Daicos. He is, for now, tied for the lead.

Not for long. Two more for Matt Rowell, right on cue. He takes his lead straight back.

Naicos will be tearing his hair out.

Moving right along. Nothing for Brayshaw or Serong this week.

Three votes for Jordan Dawson in a win over Richmond, he’s still keeping them honest.

N Daicos, three votes. Back to back BOGs for Nick.

But there’s two more votes for Matt Rowell, who moves to 25 and keeps a three-vote lead over Daicos.

After a little break we’re into the business end of the season now. Here we go.

Two votes for Caleb Serong but none for Andy Brayshaw in a Freo win.

Nothing for Bailey Smith.

Three for Nick Daicos, now we’re talking. He’s back up there again.

But there’s three more for Matt Rowell! In a loss to Gold Coast! Good luck catching him.

Two votes for Jordan Dawson as he moves into a tie for third with Daicos and Smith.

Andrew Brayshaw picks up two more, to move one vote behind Rowell. Three for Caleb Serong, he’s not miles off either.

Three for Bailey Smith! He’s up to 19 votes now too.

Things starting to get a bit spicy now.