At the midway mark of the 2016 season, Dustin Martin has to be rated a big chance to win the game’s most esteemed individual award, the Brownlow Medal.

The dynamic Richmond midfielder is currently in the best form of his league career.

He’s averaging 27.9 disposals per match, having produced two equal career-high displays of 38 touches in the past three weeks (Round 10 v Essendon and Round 12 v Gold Coast).

Martin received the maximum 10 votes in the prestigious AFL Coaches Association’s Player of the Year award for both those games and has moved up into sixth place behind Geelong’s star recruit Patrick Dangerfield.

By my reckoning, Martin has at least 12 Brownlow votes, 12 rounds into the season.  If he maintains his high level of performance throughout the second half of the season, he could well be taking ‘Charlie’ home – the first Richmond player to do so since brilliant centreman Ian Stewart back in 1971.

He is a proven Brownlow vote-getter, too, having polled 21 to finish seventh last year, 13 in 2014, 16 in 2013 and 12 in 2011.

Of course, there’s still a long way to go in the home-and-away rounds this season, but if you’ve backed Dustin Martin to win the 2016 Brownlow, I’m convinced you’re going to get a very good run for your money.