The Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 was awarded in 2005 to Ben Cousins

Ben Cousins

Benjamin Luke "Ben" Cousins is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his 270-game career with and in the Australian Football League ....

 from the West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 for being the best and fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 player during the 2005

2005 AFL season

Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2005.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:...

 Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 home and away season. It is the most prestigious individual award in Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 and was held at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, Victoria on 19 September 2006. It was Cousins first Brownlow Medal win, and the first 1–2 finish by a club in 86 years.

Leading votegetters

	| Player	| Votes
1st	Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Benjamin Luke "Ben" Cousins is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his 270-game career with and in the Australian Football League ....	20
2nd	Daniel Kerr Daniel Kerr Daniel Matthew Kerr is an Australian rules footballer.Kerr was recruited from East Fremantle Football Club and made his AFL debut in 2001 with the West Coast Eagles. He is a hard-running midfielder who is a vital part of the midfield at the Eagles.-Background:Kerr is of Anglo-Indian descent...	19
3rd	Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo is an Australian rules footballer for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Early career:...	18
4th	Scott West Scott West Scott West is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League...	17
=5th	Tyson Edwards	16
=5th	Barry Hall Barry Hall Barry Hall is a former Australian rules footballer. Hall is considered to be one of the best forwards of the modern era, being named All-Australian, leading his club's goalkicking on nine occasions and captaining the Sydney Swans to their 2005 AFL Grand Final victory...	16
7th	Luke Hodge Luke Hodge Luke Hodge is a professional Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League...	15
=8th	Mathew Pavlich	14
=8th	Luke Power Luke Power Luke Power is an Australian rules footballer. He is currently contracted to play for Greater Western Sydney. He was a part of the Brisbane Lions's 2001, 2002, and 2003 premierships. He is known for his effective use of the ball disposals, rare mistakes and his deadly accurate left foot. Many AFL...	14
10th	Jude Bolton Jude Bolton Jude Bolton is an Australian rules football player with the Sydney Swans of the AFL. Bolton currently holds the record for most tackles in a VFL/AFL career....	13

Voting Procedure

Under the current procedures, the three field umpires

Umpire (Australian rules football)

An umpire is an official in the sport of Australian rules football.-Origins:Unlike many other codes of football, where the official is called a referee, in Australian Football, the officials borrow their title from the game of cricket, which is played on the same types of fields and was an...

(those umpires who control the flow of the game, as opposed to goal or boundary umpires) confer after each match and award 3 votes, 2 votes and 1 vote to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best in the match respectively.