Nick Daicos says the ‘beauty’ of the Brownlow Medal is in its unpredictability

Nick Daicos says the Brownlow vote he got against Melbourne on King’s Birthday in Round 13 just proves the “beauty” of the award’s unpredictability.

One of the two hot favourites heading into the count along with eventual runaway winner Patrick Cripps, Daicos was expected to poll heavily throughout the night.

But no one had him down for a vote against the Dees in June, when he was heavily tagged by Alex Neal-Bullen before being subbed out of the game in the third quarter with a sore shin.

He had just 15 touches, one goal and 62 ranking points for the game — his most modest output for the year.

“Nick Daicos just got a Brownlow vote in Round 13 against Melbourne in a game he was subbed out of after 15 disposals, and a goal. Josh Daicos had 34 touches. No votes. Lol,” 7NEWS Melbourne’s Theo Doropoulos said at the time.

It turned heads on Monday night, when AFL CEO Andrew Dillon read his name out for one vote for that game.

“It’s the beauty of the Brownlow; no one knows games where you’re going to vote,” Daicos told 7NEWS.com.au on Wednesday.

“I probably had some games where I thought I played better and didn’t get a vote, and then games where I thought I wasn’t at my best and I did get a vote. It sort of comes around, but it’s always nice when you can get a vote.”

Daicos teammates John Noble (24 disposals)and Jack Crisp (27) got the two and three votes respectively.

Both Nick and brother Josh, who were sitting next to each other on the night, couldn’t hide their confusion.

As cameras cut to Josh and Nick when the votes were being read out, they both had to have a double take to make sure they heard correctly.

But Nick told 7NEWS.com.au that they didn’t even discuss it afterwards.

“Nah, we actually haven’t spoken about it to be honest,” he said.

“We were just pretty amazed at Crippa getting 45 votes, it was exceptional and a huge credit to his season. I think a lot of the focus is on him, as it should be.”

The bookies had the quinella of the night spot on, with second favourite Daicos finishing runner-up behind winner Cripps, as both midfielders smashed the previous record number of votes.

“It’s always a good night,” Daicos said.

“We had the mark of the year winner (Bobby Hill), which was really cool, and it was just good so many of our boys were there and to see other players from other clubs.

“There can be some nerves associated with Brownlow night when you’re in contention. But we were lucky that we had a good group of players there and had a lot of fun with the boys and it was great that Bobby could walk away with mark of the year.

“We found a way to have a bit of fun, and it was also fun with what Patty Cripps was able to do, which was pretty amazing.”

Daicos was among Collingwood’s best on grand final day last year, lifting the Magpies to a heart-stopping four-point win over Brisbane.

This year, he’ll be watching on from the stands, hoping to get back there next year.

“It was such a special week last season and we really enjoyed the week leading up and tried to take it in as much as we could,” Daicos said.

“I think every year that you don’t get there, you’re a little bit disappointed, but I think we’ll come back better and stronger.

“The coaches have already put some plans in place and given us our off-season training programs. We’re super excited as a team, we know that we can feature heavily next year if we get our system right, so we’ll be honing in on little aspects of our team game and I’m sure we’ll hopefully be back in finals next year.

“I feel like if we had have been good enough to qualify (for the finals), we could have done some damage. Later in the season, we started to get into some really good form.

“We probably should have beaten Sydney up there — their last quarter was just unbelievable and we couldn’t stop them. But we beat Brisbane late in the year, we knocked over some good sides, so we were in good form towards the end of the season.

“We need to carry that into next season now and start the year the way we finished this year.”

That Sydney game in Round 22 stuck a dagger into the Pies’ season. They were 21 points up at three-quarter time and then kicked the first goal of the last quarter — before the Sydney onslaught came.

Isaac Heeney produced possibly the most blinding single quarter of individual brilliance of any player this season to drag his side over the line and orchestrate a thrilling comeback victory.

Heeney had 14 touches, four marks, one goal and 60 ranking point in the last quarter alone.

“His ability to damage the game in so many ways — he can mark the ball, he’ll kick goals, he’ll go forward, he’s tough around the contest,” Daicos said.

“He’s one of those players that you’ve always got to watch when you’re playing them, and I think he’ll be super exciting on Saturday. He’s already had a great finals series and, hopefully for him and the Swans, they can cap it off.”

Though he won’t be out there on Saturday, Daicos is still getting the finals feeling from being amongst the action this week.

He is making appearances at the Toyota live site in Yarra Park, where fans have already flocked to get selfies with the 21-year-old superstar.

“You see the passion that goes into grand final week with not only the players and clubs, but also the fans and how much it means to them. It’s awesome to give back to them,” Daicos said.

As for the game on Saturday, Daicos is backing Brisbane to turn last year’s disappointment into glory this season.

“It should be a great game, I think it will be very, very close,” he said.

“My tip’s the Lions, I think the Lions will just get it done, they’ve got a lot of star power. But there are so many good players for both teams.”