The wait is over, and it ended in a landslide. Collingwood's Nick Daicos claimed his first Brownlow Medal at Monday night's count with a record-breaking 47 votes, the ABC reports — a runaway win over Geelong's Bailey Smith (36) and the Western Bulldogs' Marcus Bontempelli (34).

The count barely pretended to be a contest. Daicos polled a perfect nine votes from his first three games, led from round 11, reeled off six consecutive best-on-ground performances between rounds 15 and 20, and had the medal sealed by round 21. His 13 three-vote games carried him past the previous record of 45, set by Carlton's Patrick Cripps in 2024, in a season where he averaged 34.9 disposals, 5.7 clearances, 6.7 inside-50s and 1.1 goals — and where, for the first time, the voting umpires were able to consult statistics.

For the 23-year-old, relief ran ahead of triumph. This was his fourth consecutive year as favourite, after finishing eighth as a debutant in 2022, third in 2023, runner-up in 2024 — when his 38 votes were briefly the most in league history, until Cripps polled 45 the same night — and runner-up again last year, edged by Gold Coast's Matt Rowell. He joked at the count that he had learned not to trust the betting markets. "It's a massive award, and I'm so privileged to be up here," he said. "And yeah, I can't believe I'm a Brownlow medallist, to be honest." The Brownlow completes a sweep: he had already collected the AFL Players Association and AFL Coaches Association player-of-the-year awards this season.

The records under the record

The ABC's Chris De Silva counts the ways the win rewrote the book: Daicos is now the only player in league history to poll more than 30 votes in three consecutive seasons, the only one with six straight three-vote games, and the only one with 13 three-vote games in a single season. He is Collingwood's first Brownlow medallist since Dane Swan in 2011 — a 15-year gap — and the son of Magpies great Peter Daicos, of the 1990 premiership side. The vice-captain is widely expected to be named skipper next season, four years after arriving at a club that finished second-last in 2021, lifting it to fourth in his first season and a premiership in his second. Even Nike got in early, running an advert on the morning of the count declaring his rise "inevitable".

His speech kept the scale personal — his partner Arlette ("I'm so grateful to have you in my corner"), his parents ("I feel like playing at Collingwood and being a father-son has been extra spotlight on me at times... I'm so grateful for everything you guys have done for me"), his brother and teammate Josh ("you're my brother, one of my best mates"), and the club: "Then also to Fly and the Collingwood club for picking me up, it's been a hell of a ride, a really exciting five years."

The rest of the room

Behind the podium three: Melbourne captain Max Gawn polled 28, with Brisbane's Will Ashcroft, Cripps and North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel on 27. Port Adelaide's Zak Butters — set to join Bontempelli at the Bulldogs next season — finished on 26 after a late-season ankle injury, while banned Sydney pair Isaac Heeney (26) and Chad Warner (12) polled from outside the room. Brisbane's Conor McKenna took goal of the year and Hawthorn's Nick Watson mark of the year.

The medal lands at the start of grand final week, with Fremantle and Brisbane meeting on Saturday. Daicos, at 23, won't be playing in it — but he ends the week with the one prize that kept escaping him finally around his neck, and, on De Silva's reading, the bridge from one era of Collingwood contention to the next now his to carry.