Patrick Cripps has taken out the AFL’s top honour for 2022, winning the Brownlow Medal after a brilliant campaign. In true Brownlow fashion, we give our 3-2-1 votes for his best games of the season.
Cripps trailed Brisbane’s Lachie Neale and Gold Coast’s Touk Miller heading into round 23, sitting at 26 votes while the pair were tied on 27.
But a 35-disposal, 12-clearance performance in the Blues’ heartbreaking round 23 loss to Collingwood was a best-on-ground performance, giving him just enough votes to leapfrog Neale and claim the award with 29 votes.
Cripps becomes the first Blue to win the Brownlow since Chris Judd in 2013, polling maximum votes in seven games throughout the season, with five of those coming within his first seven games.
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Let’s take a look at Cripps’ three best games of the 2022 season.
1 – Round 20 vs Adelaide
This is perhaps the game that kept Cripps in the Brownlow count.
Having not polled three votes in a game since round eight, Cripps was sliding slightly down the leaderboard, but a herculean effort in an away loss to the Crows saw him adjudged best on ground to poll maximum votes.
He amassed a career-high 41 disposals, collected 12 clearances and laid five tackles in a starring performance, one of his most dominant showings of the season despite the loss.
Embed from Getty Images2 – Round 6 vs Fremantle
After an opening three rounds from which he was widely tipped to poll the maximum nine votes, Cripps suffered a hamstring injury in the Blues’ round four loss to the Suns. It saw him subbed out for the remaining three quarters of the game and concerns grew surrounding how many games the injury would keep him sidelined for.
But after missing just one game and returning two weeks later, any doubts about Cripps’ fitness or explosiveless were put to rest when he returned against the Dockers in round six.
Cripps collected 32 disposals and booted three goals as the Blues fell short of Freo, with eight clearances and five tackles the cherry on top of an already supreme performance.
3 – Round 1 vs Richmond
It threatened to be the game which lost him the count, but in the end it was the vote that clinched the Brownlow for Cripps.
Ironically, his best game of 2022 – in the Blues’ season opener against Richmond – didn’t even poll maximum votes, but the one-vote game was emblematic of Cripps’ 2022 campaign.
He gathered 30 disposals and kicked three goals, with 11 inside 50s and eight clearances proving his dominant abilities around the ground as he ran riot.
Perhaps most importantly, however, it set the tone not only for Cripps’ season, but the Blues’ as a whole, leading from the front as Carlton branded itself as a side to watch in 2022.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs always at the Brownlow, we also found out the Mark and Goal of the Year winners, so without further ado…
2022 Mark of the Year
Mitch Georgiades – Port Adelaide
There was little doubt that the Power high-flyer would take home the award, which was certainly the standout among the marks shortlisted for the final award.
His round 16 grab against the Dockers was remarkably out-voted in the same round by the Dockers’ Hayden Young, but was selected as one of the five goals from outside each round’s winners for the pool of finalists.
Watch it below:
2022 Goal of the Year:
Sam Draper – Essendon
Another deserving winner, Sam Draper’s solo goal which started from the centre square took home the 2022 Goal of the Year award.
An impressive goal was matched with a very justified celebration from the Bombers big man.
Watch it below:
