Who is the only Brisbane player to poll in the Brownlow Medal in six consecutive games?

It’s not Lachie Neale when he polled a club record 31 votes in a 17-game Covid season to win the medal in 2021. Or when Neale polled 28 votes to finish second in 2022, or when he polled 26 votes to finish equal third in 2019.

It’s not Simon Black when he polled 25 votes to win the meal in 2002, and Jason Akermanis when he picked up 23 votes to win in 2001. Or Michael Voss when he polled 21 votes to win the club’s first medal in 1996.

It’s not Jarryd Lyons when he polled 23 votes in 2021, Tom Rockliff when he polled 21 votes in 2013, or Jonathan Brown in any of the six consecutive years from 2010-15 when he polled 10+ votes.

And it’s not Nigel Lappin, Dayne Zorko or Luke Power who, with Black, Voss, Brown, Lappin, Neale, Akermanis and Lyons, make up the 10 Brisbane players to have polled more than 50 votes for the club. And it’s not even any of the other 21 players who have polled 20+ votes.

It’s a player who played only 52 games in Brisbane colours, polled eight times in 11 weeks for 16 votes to finish equal sixth in the Brownlow in 2002. And a week later walked away from the club a premiership player. Des Headland.

It was in 2002, when Black polled 25 votes to win the Brownlow by four votes from Port Adelaide’s Josh Francou, with Voss, Hawthorn’s Shane Crawford and Melbourne’s Adem Yze equal third with 17 votes. Headland tied with Sydney’s Paul Williams, Melbourne’s Travis Johnstone, West Coast’s Ben Cousins and Adelaide’s Andrew McLeod for sixth on 16.

The No.1 draft pick from 1998, who was made to bide his time before getting a regular spot in the star-studded Brisbane side of his era, went into his fourth season in 2002 without a vote in 32 games.

Even at Round 10 he was voteless, having missed the first five games and not polled in Rounds 6-7-8-9-10 as the count was conducted on the Monday night of grand final week.

With the Brisbane players bunkered down at the Gabba to spare them a trip to Melbourne, Headland polled one vote in Round 11, missed out in Round 12, and then went 3-1-1-3-2-3 from Rounds 13-18. He averaged 26.3 possessions and 3.2 goals in his extraordinary run, with a possession count of 20-24-20-26-20-28 and a goal tally 6-5-2-2-1-3.

With four rounds to play he was equal third with 14 votes and added two more votes in Round 21.

Among 15 Brisbane players to have polled 15 or more votes in a season a combined 28 times, Headland, who finished 10^th in the Merrett/Murray Medal that year, was second-youngest – 166 days younger than Voss when he won the medal in 1996.

And yet, as good as that was, it wasn’t even the highlight of Headland’s time with the Lions. That came five days later when he collected a premiership medal as the second-youngest member of the Lions side behind only Jonathan Brown.

After a magnificent 33 possessions and three goals in the preliminary final win over Port Adelaide Headland had a quieter grand final with 13 possessions. But it didn’t matter. He had what he wanted and after a long, slow lap of honour of the MCG he was the last player off the ground.

Club insiders suspected it might be the last time Headland wore a Brisbane jumper, and they were right. Soon after at his request he was traded to the Dockers for pick #3 and pick #19 in the 2002 National Draft, which became Jared Brennan and Troy Selwood.

He played 114 games in purple, including five finals in three finals campaigns, and had a 58-56 win/loss record. And while he would have looked on enviously to see his 2002 teammates win the flag again in 2003, he was where he wanted to be. He was in Perth.

The ever-popular Headland, in Brisbane over the last week, insisted no deal was in place at the time, but he admitted the want to return home was too much to ignore.

“I loved my time at Brisbane, and I would have loved to keep playing with those guys, but with two young kids we thought it was best to get home to family. I often wonder what would have happened (if he stayed) but we’ll never know.

“I caught up with the boys at the premiership reunion in Melbourne last year and it was awesome. It was like a cleansing for me… the boys welcomed me with open arms and it was like I’d never left. I can honestly say I follow two clubs these days.”

After finishing his playing career with WAFL club Subiaco he moved to Broome. He joined the newly-formed Palmer United Party in July 2013 and stood for the giant Kimberleys-based seat of Durack in a Federal election alongside Clive Palmer, who also recruited rugby league great Glen Lazarus, ex-AFL great Doug Hawkins and ex-boxers Barry Michael and Will Tomlinson. And although he didn’t make it to Federal Parliament he was an advisor to former WA-based Senator Dio Wang.

Now 42 and living back in Perth with wife Chantelle, daughter Madisan (22) and sons Mason (20) and Carson (16), he lives a busy life as CEO of ‘Spartan First’, an Indigenous occupational health provider, Co-Chairman of Iron Merge, an Indigenous company involved in recruitment, industrial supplies and even mining operations, and managing director of the family business, Headland Corporation.

Six of the seven common players between Brisbane and Fremantle played with Brisbane first, with only Neale having crossed the country the opposite way.

John Hutton, like Headland a #1 draft pick, went from Brisbane (18 games in 1992) to Sydney (5 games in 1993) and Fremantle (13 games in 1995), while Brendon Retzlaff, a 15-game Bear in 1992, played three games at West Coast in 1993 before six games at Fremantle in 1995.

Brad Rowe, a 14-game Bear in 1990-91, was the third double-up in 1996, playing eight games with the Dockers in 1996 after a 51-game stopover at Collingwood, while Adrian Fletcher, father of Lions 2023 newcomer Jaspa Fletcher, finished his career with 79 games at Fremantle from 1998-2001 after playing at Geelong (23 games in 1989-91), St.Kilda (22 games in 1992) and Brisbane (1993-97). He was the Dockers co-captain in 2000-21.

Headland was the fifth double-up in 2003, followed by Neale in 2019, and then James Aish, who will play for Fremantle against Brisbane on Saturday afternoon. Originally from South Australia, Aish played 32 games with Brisbane in 2014-15 and 50 games with Collingwood in 2016-19 before joining the Dockers, where he has now played 67 games.