Ahead of the game's night of nights, we've taken a look at how our six Hawks won their Brownlow Medals.
From retrospective awards to record-breaking seasons, every winner has their story.
1949 – Colin Austen
Total votes: 23
Total games: 17
3-vote games: 5
2-vote games: 3
1-vote games: 2
By the records Colin Austen was the first Hawthorn player to win a Brownlow after he finished with the most votes in the 1949 count. But there is a twist in this historic tale. Austen had not officially won the award until 1989, an entire 40 years later, when the league decided to change the system of its tied vote countback system. Also of note, Austen’s outstanding 1949 system was ultimately his last at the club as he moved to Richmond ahead of the 1950 season.
1986 – Robert DiPierdomenico
Total votes: 17
Total games: 22
3-vote games: 4
2-vote games: 2
1-vote games: 1
Dipper wasn’t quite a known vote-getter ahead of the 1986 season. In his nine previous campaigns, he had received double-digit vote tallies just once. What set a part his performances in his Brownlow year was his career-high goal kicking record, averaging just shy of one goal per game. The five-time premiership Hawk shared the honour with Swan Greg Williams.
1987 – John Platten
Total votes: 20
Total games: 22
3-vote games: 3
2-vote games: 4
1-vote games: 3
A Hawk again shared the podium in the 1987 Brownlow Medal count, as John Platten took to the stage alongside Saint Tony Lockett. Platten polled in 10 of his 22 games as his consistent year was rewarded. Having won a premiership with the Hawks in his first year at the club in 1986, Platten added to his dream start to his career in the brown and gold by taking home the Charlie.
1999 – Shane Crawford
Total votes: 28
Total games: 22
3-vote games: 5
2-vote games: 6
1-vote games: 1
Shane Crawford’s winning vote tally in the 1999 count can be accounted for by two incredible six and seven-week blocks. From Rounds 1 to 7, Crawford polled in six of the seven games for a total of 12 votes. But he bettered that run in his five outings between Round 17 and 21 when he was awarded 14 of a possible 15 votes across a period where he averaged 34.4 possessions and 2.2 goals per game.
2012 – Sam Mitchell
Total votes: 26
Total games: 21
3-vote games: 4
2-vote games: 6
1-vote games: 2
Mitchell became the second Hawk to retrospectively be awarded a Brownlow Medal after Jobe Watson was deemed ineligible in 2012. Interestingly, Mitchell had eight seasons where he averaged more disposals than he did in 2012, but the known vote-getter was nonetheless in scintillating form in a year that saw the Hawks ultimately fall at the final hurdle against Sydney.
2018 – Tom Mitchell
Total votes: 28
Total games: 22
3-vote games: 6
2-vote games: 4
1-vote games: 2
Like Crawford and Sam Mitchell, Tom polled in 12 games to earn his Brownlow Medal. Following a stellar season in which the ball magnet broke all sorts of records, including the number of disposals tallied in a season, Mitchell was the runaway winner with 28 votes.
