Brown took out the Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player at the AFL Players' Association’s awards dinner held at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne on Monday night.
The Lions centre-half forward finished with 137 votes, edging out Sydney Swans captain Brett Kirk (127 votes) and Geelong midfielder Joel Selwood (87 votes).
In the evening’s main event, Geelong midfielder Gary Ablett was awarded the prestigious Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFLPA’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. Ablett secured 1088 votes from his fellow players to finish ahead of Hawthorn spearhead Lance Franklin (718 votes), North Melbourne midfielder Brent Harvey (440 votes), Richmond veteran Matthew Richardson (148 votes) and Carlton recruit Chris Judd (140 votes).
Ablett joins Carlton’s Greg Williams, North Melbourne’s Wayne Carey and the Lions’ Michael Voss as the only two-time MVP winners.
Geelong’s Tom Harley was voted as the Best Captain ahead of Chris Judd, Brett Kirk and last year’s winner Jonathan Brown.
In other awards, Fremantle’s Rhys Palmer took out the Best First Year Player, St Kilda’s Jason Blake was awarded the Education and Training Excellence Award and Mike Sheahan was a popular choice for the Grant Hattam Award for Excellence in Football Journalism.
Leigh Matthews Trophy for Most Valuable Player
1. Gary Ablett (Geel) – 1088
2. Lance Franklin (Haw) – 718
3. Brent Harvey (NM) – 440
4. Matthew Richardson (Rich) – 148
5. Chris Judd (Carl) – 140
6. Joel Selwood (Geel) – 109
Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player
1. Jonathan Brown (BL) – 137
2. Brett Kirk (Syd) – 127
3. Joel Selwood (Geel) – 87
4. Luke Hodge (Haw) – 56
5. Matthew Richardson (Rich) – 50
Best First Year Player
1. Rhys Palmer (Fre) – 252
2. Cyril Rioli (Haw) – 167
3. Trent Cotchin (Rich) – 80
4. Austin Wonaeamirri (Mel) – 30
5. Harry Taylor (Geel) – 21
Best Captain
1. Tom Harley (Geel) – 141
2. Chris Judd (Carl) – 103
3. Brett Kirk (Syd) – 80
4. Jonathan Brown (BL) – 57
5. Adam Simpson (NM) – 40
