AFL’s contingency plan for shock Isaac Heeney Brownlow victory revealed ahead of 2026 count

The AFL’s contingency plan in the event of a shock Isaac Heeney victory in the Brownlow Medal count on Monday night has been revealed.

Reports last week claimed league officials were refusing to plan for a scenario in which the Sydney Swans star, who will not attend the count, polls the most votes on Monday night.

Heeney had a strong season to help Sydney to a top-two finish, and he remains eligible for the AFL’s top individual award despite being suspended by the Swans for breaching club standards on the eve of the finals.

Chad Warner, one of the other four Sydney players sidelined following the alleged Pullman hotel scandal, is also expected to poll well, having pulled in 44 over the last two seasons to Heeney’s 45.

But it is Heeney at the centre of the debate around how the AFL will handle the night.

Channel 7 expert Kane Cornes has now revealed it is “not correct” that the AFL, and the Brownlow’s exclusive broadcaster Channel 7, did not want to acknowledge the Heeney possibility.

“There is actually a plan for what happens if Isaac Heeney wins the Brownlow Medal tonight,” he said on SEN.

“I can tell you that Matthew Pavlich will accept Heeney’s Brownlow Medal tonight, and Matthew Pavlich will also read out the speech should — and it’s very unlikely — Isaac Heeney be the Brownlow medallist.”

Cornes said the speech would be written by Heeney.

Sydney CEO Pavlich will be in attendance at Crown Palladium, alongside the likes of Brodie Grundy and Charlie Curnow, after the Swans lost their preliminary final to Fremantle on Friday night.

“That would be a first, wouldn’t it?” Cornes asked of a club representative accepting the award for an absent winner.

Channel 7’s Tom Morris replied: “That would be amazing. Can you imagine that? Pav up there reading a statement. Highly unlikely but nevertheless they need to have it ready just in case.”

Cornes said there are expectations Heeney will finish with a vote tally in the mid-20s.

But the competition is tipped to be blown away by Collingwood star Nick Daicos, who could go close to breaking Patrick Cripps’ record of 45 votes on his way to what would be his first Brownlow.

Daicos polled 11 in his first season before becoming a juggernaut from his second season onwards.

He picked up 28 to finish third in 2023, then had 38 as a clear runner-up to Cripps’ historic 2024 win.

Daicos then missed out again last year despite nabbing 32 votes as Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell romped to the win with 39.

The Magpies star is likely to poll in the majority of games despite Collingwood’s mixed season.

The likes of Bailey Smith (Geelong) and Marcus Bontempelli (Bulldogs) are also tipped to poll well with numbers that would have comfortably secured a Brownlow in prior years.

Heeney will likely record a handful of three-vote games with Grundy and Errol Gulden set to be among the top Sydney players.

Heeney, Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon — the five Swans suspended for breaching club standards — were ruled ineligible for the All-Australian squad in the wake of the alleged hotel scandal.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon also confirmed they would not be invited to Brownlow night, while remaining eligible to win.

Only players suspended under AFL match review and tribunal guidelines are scratched from contention.

Sydney are yet to publicise how they will deal with their best-and-fairest award.