Matt Rowell wins Brownlow Medal, explains grass-eating pre-match ritual

Gold Coast Suns midfielder Matt Rowell has claimed his maiden Brownlow Medal after polling 39 votes, finishing seven clear of Nick Daicos in a dramatic count that highlighted a standout season for the Suns. Rowell’s victory came as he helped steer the club to its first finals appearance in 15 years, a milestone that underscored the franchise’s upward trajectory. In a candid Crown Palladium speech, the 24-year-old also addressed a pre-match ritual that has followed him for years: he carries a Sherrin football with him everywhere and, he says, eats grass before games as a grounding exercise.

Rowell’s rise was reflected in a steady climb through the count, culminating in a 39-vote tally that left Daicos on 32, with Bailey Smith on 29 and Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson on 27 completing the top four. The win made Rowell the Suns’ second Brownlow winner, following Gary Ablett Jr. in 2013, and capped what was a landmark season for a club that reached the finals for the first time since entering the league. The season’s narrative also centered on a strong finals push, with Gold Coast advancing to the semi-finals before bowing to Brisbane.

The pre-match ritual, Rowell said, is part of what makes him a self-described ‘weirdo’ in the eyes of some observers. “A bit of a weirdo,” Rowell quipped as he explained he has carried a Sherrin with him everywhere and began eating grass as a grounding process before games. “I started doing that a few years ago. You try a lot of weird things and that was kind of like a grounding process that I wanted to do before games. Feel, sight, taste, obviously.” He recalled a Darwin game when officials teased him about the grass: “They said, ‘we saw you eat the grass before the game but it goes through the sewerage, you might want to check that nothing is wrong with you after this.’” The anecdote underscored the candid, self-deprecating tone he struck in his acceptance remarks.

Rowell, who admitted he was “speechless” upon accepting the award, also reflected on the arc of his career. Pick No. 1 in the 2019 draft, he endured serious injuries in his first two seasons but has not missed a game since round 13, 2021. “It might sound a little bit arrogant, but I knew I wanted to be an AFL player and I had a feeling that I was going to get there,” he said. “There was nothing really that I thought of doing, apart from playing AFL footy.” His Brownlow triumph followed a year in which the Suns celebrated their finals debut after 15 seasons and advanced to the semi-finals before falling to Brisbane, sealing a transformative period for the club.

Beyond Rowell, the Brownlow count featured notable moments and a sense that the league’s next generation was finding its footing. Patrick Dangerfield overtook former teammate Gary Ablett Jr. to claim the record for most three-vote games in Brownlow history, with 56. Fremantle’s Murphy Reid was rewarded for a brilliant rookie season by becoming the fourth Dockers player to win the Rising Star award, capping a year that highlighted the league’s depth of young talent. The night also included several dramatic voting twists that kept fans guessing late into the count as contenders jockeyed for position and voters weighed tough calls in a season defined by its unpredictable finish.