With the Brownlow medal being awarded this Sunday night, we thought it would be interesting to create a bit of a preview so the Magpie Army know what and who to look out for on the night!

Often these medal counts are unpredictable, no matter how hard you try to do your research, but we've done our best to put together a predicted Collingwood Top 5:

Patrick Lipinski

What a fantastic first season in the black and white for Patrick Lipinski. He's set to poll his first career Brownlow votes on Sunday night, a reflection of his elevation into a consistently performing AFL midfielder. 

It looks set to kick off early for Lippa, who arguably had his best performance of the year in round one. 30 disposals, five clearances, seven inside 50's, eight score involvements, 13 contested possessions and a goal at 76.7% disposal efficiency, it was a club debut to remember. He'll be competing with Jordan De Goey for the three votes on the night, Jordy had 27 disposals, two gaols and 12 score involvements. 

Lipinski had a few other stand out games throughout the year. 12 score involvements and 30 disposals against the Suns has to have him in contention for a vote or two. His 29 disposals and one goal performance against Hawthorn in round 12 could see him poll, he had a career high 16 contested possessions that game; however there were a lot of other strong performers that day.

There were some outstanding individual performances against Adelaide in round 18, with Lipinski being one of them. In any regular game, 28 disposals, 13 tackles and 8 score involvements would be enough to poll at least one Brownlow vote. Nick Daicos' 40 disposals and three goals, Scott Pendlebury's 29 disposals and a goal and Rory Laird's 31 disposals and 20 tackles will make it a very competitive three votes. 

Jordan De Goey

Jordy is one of those players that is always likely to poll well. He's explosive in the contest and tends to hit the scoreboard too, making him very easy for the umpires to notice. 

As mentioned, Jordy had a fantastic first round of the season, back up with an impressive game in round two against Adelaide. His performances in those games puts him in a great position to start the night well. 

Despite a loss, Jordy is a chance to poll in round five against Brisbane. His ability to push forward was most evident in this game as he slotted four brilliant goals to go with 21 disposals. Going at 85% efficiency, his eight inside 50's and seven score involvements was Jordy at his effective best. Round 11's thrilling win over Carlton was another great performance from the dynamic midfielder. 11 score involvements, 24 disposals, 505 meters gained and a goal put Jordy right up there with the best players on the ground. 

To round out the season, Jordy was in great form. Against one of the competition's best midfields he went to work, putting together 25 disposals, a goal nine clearances and six score involvements. 

Jack Crisp

A player of his consistency, talent and effort will inevitably score will on Brownlow night. Jack Crisp has had another outstanding season off the back of his Copeland trophy year in 2021. In a new role under coach Craig McRae, Crisp has spent a lot more game time in the midfield as opposed to that running half-back role in previous years. 

Crisp's first half of the season was unreal. Between rounds two and 13 he averaged 27.4 disposals and averaged just under a goal a game. As for standout games, his 26 disposal and 10 tackle game against Adelaide in round two will be up there. He had a whopping 36 disposals in the loss against Brisbane in round 5. Crisp was brilliant against the Suns in round seven with 28 disposals, a goal and nine score involvements. He'll be competing for the three votes in that game with Touk Miller who had a very respectable 36 disposals and two goals. 

In round 10 Crisp was unstoppable in the midfield. He had 27 disposals, a goal, eight clearances, 16 contested possessions and seven inside 50's, a performance that will definitely have him on the radar for some votes. It's also hard to go past his 29 disposal game against the Demons in round 13. 

Look for Jack to have a strong first half of the night before tailing out as the count heats up. 

Nick Daicos

The fact that we're even talking about a first year player in the top five Brownlow performers for Collingwood is outrageous, but it comes at no surprise when you read the Daicos surname. Nick and his brother Josh (who we'll talk about shortly) had incredible seasons in 2022. 

Nick will look to break the club record for most Brownlow votes as a first year player set by Des Fothergill in 1937 with 13.

The season started brilliantly for Nick, with 27 disposals on debut against St Kilda. He backed it up two weeks later with an outstanding 26 disposals and a goal against Geelong in round three. In the loss against West Coast in round 4, Nick was just ridiculously good with 32 disposals, seven marks, 490 meters gained and 10 score involvements at 78% disposal efficiency. We expect this will probably be the first of his votes for the night. 

Incredibly, Nick's game went to an even higher level in the second half of the season. He averaged an incredible 32 disposals between rounds 12 and 18. In this stretch of games, in which the Pies won all five games, look for Nick to score particularly well. 

A 36 disposal game against Hawthorn in round 12 where he also had 11 intercepts, 33 disposals against Melbourne in round 13 and 37 disposals with 674 meters gained against the Suns in round 16 put him in the elite category as just a rookie. 

It was round 18 however where the competition saw Nick's ability to damage in every aspect of the game, playing a role across half forward. Nick amassed an incredible 40 disposals, kicked three amazing goals, had a whopping 747 meters gained, 10 intercepts and still managed to go at 82.5% disposal efficiency despite the wet weather.

To put that performance into context, no other player who had more than 20 disposals went higher than 58.6% disposal efficiency that day. 

Josh Daicos

Speaking of Daicos brothers, Josh has taken his game to a new level in 2022. Really owning a position on the wing and through the midfield, Josh averaged a career high 21.38 disposals per game. His level of consistency was a true sign of his maturing into a developed AFL player this season, only dropping below 15 disposals twice throughout the whole year. 

As an attacking midfielder, Josh has to be considered one of the best in the game. His ability to hit the scoreboard was prevalent throughout the whole year. Experts have Josh to poll his first votes for the season in round four against West Coast where he kicked a goal and had 28 disposals in an epic individual performance. 

His next stand out performance came in round 11 against old rivals Carlton. In this game, Josh found the perfect balance of defence and attack along the wing. He had six score involvements and seven intercepts to go with 23 disposals and 512 meters gained. Look for him to snag a cheeky vote in this game for sure. 

Josh will leap up the tally board in rounds 19 and 20, games where his play was instrumental in winning the game for the Pies. In round 19, his 19 disposals were complimented perfectly with THAT goal, the goal that we might see win Goal of the Year on the night. Against Port Adelaide in round 20 Josh was clear best on ground for the Pies with his 26 disposals, 659 meters gained and 7 intercepts. Unfortunately he'll be battling with Connor Rozee for the three votes. Rozee had an impressive 35 disposals. 

Honourable mentions

There are a few other Pies that will undoubtedly poll a few votes here and there. Nothing that will worry the tally counters late in the night but performances worthy of a strong mention. 

Jamie Elliott was at his brilliant best in round three against the Cats. Despite a narrow victory, his 26 disposals, two goals and six score involvements as a small forward should be deserving of at least one vote.

Hard to go past Jack Ginnivan's ANZAC day performance in round six. His five goals earned him the ANZAC day medal, and hopefully three Brownlow votes. 

The experts have Brody Mihocek penned in for a vote in round 13 for his performance against the Dees. Checkers had an equal career high four goals to go with 16 disposals and 10 marks. 

Industrious midfielder Taylor Adams had an injury interrupted season, but was outstanding against his old side GWS in round 15. 24 disposals, 15 of witch were contested, seven score involvements and six clearances was a great performance in what was a tightly fought inside battle. 

Darcy Cameron will SURELY poll a vote or two this year. Yet to poll a Brownlow vote in his career, Cameron had a bit of a break out season in the absence of Brodie Grundy.

Cameron had some outstanding games for the Pies this season, the first notable one coming against Gold Coast in round 7. 16 disposals, two goals, 15 hit-outs five clearances and six score involvements definitely put him among the best on ground that afternoon. 

A career high 33 hit-outs against the Western Bulldogs could have him in conversations for a vote, however a poor team performance might mean he'll struggle to get up there. 

It's round 12 against the Hawks where we saw Darcy's best. A career high 26 disposals, 19 hit-outs, 15 contested possessions, six clearances,  eight score involvements, six intercepts and a goal was an awesome output from the 27-year-old. If he doesn't poll votes in this game...it'll be shocking!