AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says Patrick Cripps should NOT have won Brownlow Medal after violent hit

Patrick Cripps took out the time-honoured Brownlow Medal on Sunday night, but AFL boss Gillon McLachlan believes the Carlton star should not have won. 

The Charles Brownlow Medal doesn’t just take in who is the best player, it also accounts for the fairest – and Cripps was suspended for two games late in the season after a high, heavy bump left Brisbane star Callum Ah Chee concussed.

With Carlton’s season on the line, the club rolled the dice and challenged the ruling – and succeeded in getting the ban overturned after a marathon four-and-a-half hour Appeals Board hearing.

The decision outraged many at the time – including McLachlan. 

‘People are aware I was very agitated by that (Appeals Board) decision,’ he said in a story published in this week’s AFL Record.

‘It made no sense to me in any way and it is frustrating to have a legal view about due process or procedural fairness – a complete nonsense – really affect a clear mandate to protect the head.’

In the Round 21 incident, in which the Lions thumped Carlton by 33 points, Cripps jumped off his feet to bump a vulnerable Ah Chee in a contest for the ball and collected him in the head, concussing him. 

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, pictured reading out the votes at Sunday night’s Brownlow Medal,  believes Patrick Cripps should never have been allowed to win the Brownlow after being let off over a head-high hit

His lawyer, Chris Townshend QC, was able to get Cripps off an a technicality related to ‘procedural fairness’ – and McLachlan said the successful appeal undid a lot of the hard work the AFL had achieved in protecting a players head. 

‘We confused our supporters and set ourselves back and that really frustrates me,’ McLachlan said of the decision.

Almost everybody in the footy world – aside from Carlton – slammed the idea; from former players, to fans and even current players. 

Patrick Cripps (blue jersey) leaps off his feet to bump Callum Ah Chee (maroon jumper), collecting the Lions star high and leaving him concussed

North Melbourne legend turned commentator David King said he was ‘staggered’ when Cripps was let off.

‘It contradicts everything that we’ve been talking about for the last three to four years about protecting the head. ‘I was staggered.’ King said on SEN at the time. 

‘When you can have something that is so important, which is protecting the head, and a clear statement from the MRO and backed up by the Tribunal, and then the player getting off because of a legal technicality and nobody really understanding what the hell happened, I find that challenging.’

Patrick Cripps shares his Brownlow Medal with partner Monique Fontana

Even Richmond star Jack Riewoldt condemned the decision to let Cripps off, saying it could ‘open a can of worms’ in the future for other players. 

As it turned out, that four-and-a-half hour hearing won Cripps the Brownlow Medal.

Not only would a suspension have ruled him ineligible to win; the Carlton midfielder polled three votes in the final game of the season to pip pre-count favourite Lachie Neale by just one vote.

That was a point not lost on many, with a number of high-profile footy identities suggesting Cripps’ lawyer was worthy of a Brownlow Medal of his own.

A bleary-eyed Patrick Cripps poses with his Brownlow Medal after a big night of partying at a press conference on Monday morning

But all the history books – and Wikipedia entries – will say that the winner of the 2022 Brownlow Medal was Patrick Cripps on 29 votes. 

Neale, on 28, will forever be the runner-up after one of the closest counts in history; with Gold Coast star Touk Miller third on 27 votes, and Dockers star Andrew Brayshaw and Melbourne gun Clayton Oliver joint fourth with 25 votes each.

Cripps refused to bite about McLachlan’s remarks when asked at a post-Brownlow press conference on Monday morning, simply saying he had the night of his life.

‘It’s been a long night, but It’s all worth it. It’s been great fun … You can tell my eyes I left my eyes at the count last night,’ laughed an exhausted, but ecstatic, Cripps.