Aker recalls pinching Brownlow Medal at the death from Andrew McLeod

IT WAS one of those years, 2001.

IT WAS one of those years, 2001.

Ansett collapsed. Some mad terrorists flew some planes into New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

The Brisbane Lions won their first premiership. And I stole the Brownlow Medal from Andrew McLeod.

Andrew was raging favourite that year and won just about every media award going around.

I remember having a good year and as the season wore on I felt I was playing good, consistent four-quarter footy.

In footy, you've always got to win your own ball, but it certainly helps having good players around you.

In 2001, I had the privilege of working with Michael Voss, Simon Black, Shaun Hart, Brad Scott, Luke Power, Alastair Lynch, Daniel Bradshaw and ruckmen Beau McDonald and Clark Keating.

There was also a young guy coming through the ranks called Jonathan Brown. Even in just his second season you knew he was destined to leave a huge imprint on the game.

I remember having blondish hair that seemed to stand out and kicking goals in last quarters that might have helped me grab votes from some of my well-credentialed teammates.

So on September 24 that year I sat in the Legends Room at the Gabba, along with 400 club supporters, looking forward to a free meal.

We couldn't be in Melbourne. The excuse we gave was the Ansett collapse, though I'm pretty sure our club was more than happy to stay in Brisbane so we could properly prepare for our first Grand Final five days later.

Enjoying a good time and free meal, I was sitting in the lead at halfway, so of course Channel 7 interviewed me.

I was very relaxed, mainly because I thought my second half of the year was OK but not as good as the first half.

Andrew had been favourite and I could see the nerves show on his face when his name was called out after a good game in Round 19 and he polled the three votes.

Channel 7 cut to him a lot, which kept me nice and relaxed.

But then my name was read out for three votes against Geelong in Round 21, back when the Cats were an ordinary outfit. I held on to win with 23 votes. Andrew was a luckless second, two votes back.

That's my Brownlow triumph and I tell it because someone else will emerge with his own story on Monday night.

The Brownlow isn't a perfect system, but what is? It can throw up interesting vote-getters, but a good year at the right time can make all the difference.

Will the tattooed wonder Dane Swan win after another consistent year of high possessions?

Will it be the year for the junior version of the bloke we all loved watching as a kid, Gary Ablett?

Are the umpires going to give more votes to their favourites Simon Black or Adam Goodes?

For some reason, even if those guys finish down the list in their club's best-and-fairest awards, or play an average game by their own standards, they can still pull the Brownlow votes.

Not sure why it happens but it does nearly every year. Maybe umpires have man crushes too.

Perhaps Leigh Montagna will steal the show with his hard running game in a St Kilda side that should poll the majority of votes after winning 20 of 22 games.

Last year we had yet another amazing story when my Bulldogs teammate Adam Cooney stood out with his running goals, super strong clearance work and run from the back half.

The only disappointing part of the night was that we went to the Brownlow after way too many drinks on Mad Monday, having been beaten in the preliminary final by Geelong.

As always, we'll be letting the girls worry about the dresses, make-up and shoes (which nearly every guy at our club doesn't care about) and be hoping desperately that our Mad Monday for 2009 will be one more week away.