2005 Brownlow Medal

2005 Brownlow Medal
2005 Brownlow Medallist, Ben Cousins
Date	19 September
Location	Crown Palladium
Hosted by	Eddie McGuire
Winner	Ben Cousins (West Coast) 20 votes
Television/radio coverage
Network	Nine Network

The 2005 Brownlow Medal was the 78th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season.[1] Ben Cousins of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling twenty votes during the 2005 AFL season.[2] It was Cousins' first Brownlow Medal win, and with Daniel Kerr finishing the runner up, it was the first time in 79 years that the top two votegetters were from the same club.[3]

Leading votegetters

	Player	Votes
1st	Ben Cousins (West Coast)	20
2nd	Daniel Kerr (West Coast)	19
3rd	Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda)	18
4th	Scott West (Western Bulldogs)	17
=5th	Tyson Edwards (Adelaide)	16
	Barry Hall (Sydney)
7th	Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)	15
	Chris Judd (West Coast)*	15
=8th	Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)	14
	Luke Power (Brisbane)
10th	Cameron Ling (Geelong)	13

* The player was ineligible to win the medal due to suspension by the AFL Tribunal during the year.

Voting procedure

The three field umpires (those umpires who control the flow of the game, as opposed to goal or boundary umpires) confer after each match and award three votes, two votes and one vote to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best in the match, respectively. The votes are kept secret until the awards night, and are read and tallied on the evening.

As the medal is awarded to the fairest and best player in the league, those who have been suspended during the season by the AFL Tribunal (or, who avoided suspension only because of a discount for a good record or an early guilty plea) are ineligible to win the award; however, they may still continue to poll votes.

References

1. Lovett, Michael, ed. (2009). AFL Record Season Guide 2009. Docklands, Victoria: Slattery Media Group. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-9805162-6-5.
2. "2005 Brownlow Medal". AFL Tables. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
3. Australian Associated Press (20 September 2005). "West Coast skipper claims Brownlow Medal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 February 2011.