In the lead-up to next Monday night’s 2012 Brownlow Medal count, with star Richmond midfielder, Trent Cotchin, rated one of the top chances, Tony Greenberg takes a look at the Tigers’ four-decade Brownlow famine.    

Richmond is currently enduring the longest Brownlow Medal drought of all the traditional clubs in the league football competition.

The Tigers’ last Brownlow winner was champion centreman, Ian Stewart, in 1971.

Every other Victorian club has had at least one Brownlow Medallist since then, with interstate “newcomers” Adelaide, Brisbane and the West Coast Eagles also tasting success in the game’s most prestigious individual award.

The closest a Richmond player has gone to taking ‘Charlie’ home, post-1971, was in 1983 when another brilliant centreman, Maurice Rioli, finished runner-up in the Brownlow, just one vote behind North Melbourne’s Ross Glendinning.

Tiger ‘Immortal’ and five-time premiership hero, Kevin Bartlett, was a red-hot favourite in 1974, but he finished third to the Kangaroos’ Keith Greig, who made it back-to-back Brownlows that year.

Three years later, Bartlett was runner-up to former Richmond teammate, star South Melbourne ruckman, Graham Teasdale, when he romped home with the ‘77 Brownlow.

And, Bartlett also finished a creditable fourth to North’s Malcolm Blight in 1978.

In recent years, the best Brownlow performance by a Richmond player was in 2008, when Tiger great Matthew Richardson capped off the finest season of his illustrious league career by finishing equal third (on 22 votes) to the Western Bulldogs’ Adam Cooney.

The full list of Tiger leading Brownlow Medal vote-getters, season-by-season, since 1971, is:

1972:  Craig McKellar, 10 votes
1973:  Ian Stewart, 17 votes
1974:  Kevin Bartlett, 22 votes
1975:  Craig McKellar, 11 votes
1976:  Francis Bourke, 36 votes (both field umpires cast votes under this system)
1977:  Kevin Bartlett, 45 votes (both field umpires cast votes)
1978:  Kevin Bartlett, 19 (return to traditional 3-2-1 system)
1979:  Michael Roach, 9 votes and David Cloke, 9 votes
1980:  Mark Lee, 16 votes
1981:  Geoff Raines, 9 votes
1982:  Jim Jess, 15 votes
1983:  Maurice Rioli, 23 votes
1984:  Maurice Rioli, 12 votes and Mark Lee, 12 votes
1985:  Maurice Rioli, 14 votes
1986:  Dale Weightman, 8 votes
1987:  Dale Weightman, 11 votes
1988:  Michael Mitchell, 12 votes
1989:  Allan McKellar, 10 votes
1990:  Trent Nichols, 10 votes
1991:  Matthew Knights, 17 votes
1992:  Stuart Maxfield, 6 votes
1993:  Matthew Knights, 13 votes
1994:  Paul Broderick, 10 votes
1995:  Matthew Knights, 16 votes
1996:  Justin Charles, 17 votes
1997:  Darren Gaspar, 12 votes
1998:  Matthew Knights, 18 votes
1999:  Matthew Richardson, 16 votes
2000:  Matthew Knights, 9 votes
2001:  Leon Cameron, 11 votes
2002:  Matthew Richardson, 12 votes
2003:  Mark Coughlan, 16 votes
2004:  Matthew Richardson, 10 votes
2005:  Mark Coughlan, 10 votes
2006:  Troy Simmonds, 11 votes
2007:  Matthew Richardson, 6 votes
2008:  Matthew Richardson, 22 votes
2009:  Matthew Richardson, 6 votes
2010:  Brett Deledio, 7 votes and Jack Riewoldt 7 votes
2011:  Trent Cotchin, 15 votes