CARLTON captain Patrick Cripps has a fourth John Nicholls Medal to pair with this year's Brownlow, edging ever closer to re-writing Blues history.
Cripps polled 181 votes to narrowly edge clear of popular defender Sam Docherty (173) and midfield gun Sam Walsh (163) in a thrilling count on Friday night, adding yet another individual honour to his growing list of accolades.
In doing so, Cripps became just the third player in Carlton history to win the best and fairest on four or more occasions. Nicholls, who the award is named after, won five, while the current Blues skipper has now equalled fellow legend Bruce Doull on four.
The honour came after Cripps averaged 28.1 disposals, 15.3 contested possessions, 7.8 clearances and five tackles per game in 2022. He also kicked a career-best 20 goals from 21 matches this season, helping him add to the best and fairests he won in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
He had entered the night as one of the hot favourites for the award having polling 29 votes to win his first Brownlow Medal as the AFL's best individual player. He duly saluted, seeing off stiff competition from Docherty and Walsh.
Charlie Curnow, who won this year's Coleman Medal as the competition's leading goalkicker, finished fourth on 149 votes, while new recruit George Hewett (125) capped an impressive first season at the club to round out the top-five.
"Only two other players have done what Patrick has in the 158 years of our football club. That tells you a lot about the legacy he is building at Carlton," coach Michael Voss said.
"The biggest part of his legacy though is what most people don't see. The work he does as a leader, to set standards and drive those standards to ultimately have us in a position to be successful over the coming years. That is infectious across the entire football club.
"Patrick is incredibly driven to see us succeed and while it's not individual awards that motivate him, to be a four-time John Nicholls Medallist – equalling one of the all-time greats in Bruce Doull – that is an achievement that deserves to be celebrated. Every Carlton person is proud of our skipper."
ANALYSIS Freed from midfield burden, Cripps gets his reward
Cripps also won the Bill Lanyon Inner Blue Ruthless Award and the Carltonians Award, as well as taking out the Coaches Award and the Players' Award throughout a remarkable night for the hard-nosed midfielder.
Docherty won the Spirit of Carlton Award, small forward Corey Durdin claimed the Best Young Player Award, while defender Nic Newman was honoured with the Best Clubman Award.
2022 John Nicholls Medal
1. Patrick Cripps - 181 votes
2. Sam Docherty - 173
3. Sam Walsh - 163
4. Charlie Curnow - 149
5. George Hewett - 125
6. Adam Saad - 124
7. Harry McKay - 123
8. Zac Fisher - 117
9. Matt Kennedy - 111
10. Adam Cerra - 105
How they vote: The senior coach and three assistants allocate votes on a 0-4 scale to as many players as they deem fit. The most votes a player can receive in any given round is 16.
