Brownlow cheers for bad boy Ben Cousins and Premier Mark McGowan

It says a lot about the mindset of Western Australians that the biggest cheers at last night’s count in Perth were reserved for Mark McGowan and fallen football star Ben Cousins.

Ben Cousins and Kelley Fergus. Picture: Michael Klein

As millions in NSW and Victoria settled in for yet another night in lockdown, football-mad Perth was partying like the pandemic had never happened.

Hundreds of Perth’s A-list converged on Optus Stadium – the same venue that will host a sellout crowd of 60,000 at this Saturday’s AFL grand final – as Western Australia made the most of its unexpected opportunity to host the biggest highlights on the football calendar.

Nic Naitanui with Brittany Bown. Picture: Getty Images

And starting the week of celebrations was Port Adelaide star Ollie Wines, who pipped Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli to win his first Brownlow Medal in a nail-biting count that was not decided until the final round of votes.

Bontempelli, who will attempt to lead his team to a premiership against Melbourne on Saturday, led most of the night but was overtaken by Wines in the second-last round.

“I’m a little bit rattled to be honest still,” Wines said after being awarded the medal, just days after his side was knocked out of the premiership race by the Bulldogs.

It says a lot about the mindset of Western Australians that, as hundreds of Perth’s high-profilers made their way into the stadium, the biggest cheers were reserved for Premier Mark McGowan and fallen football star Ben Cousins.

It was Mr McGowan’s tough approach to the state’s borders that has helped keep WA Covidfree, enraged many on the east coast, and opened the door for the state to host the Brownlow and the grand final.

And that success has also translated into immense popularity, a landslide election win, and a cheer on his way into the stadium that was louder than anything mustered for the dozens of top-flight footballers who came before and after him.

The only figure to receive anything near the welcome enjoyed by the Premier was Cousins, the former West Coast Eagles captain who has spent more than a decade battling drug addiction and the law.

Clean cut and freshly shaven, he was a far cry from the bearded and bedraggled post-football figure who up until now was never far from jail or a headline.

The healthy, well-groomed Cousins who appeared at Sunday’s count was the closest the public has seen to the athletic figure who won the Brownlow in 2005.

Dani Shuey, wife of Eagles player Luke Shuey. Picture: Michael Klein

Brooke Parker, partner of West Coast’s Dom Sheed. Picture: Getty Images

The last time Cousins attended the count, in 2010, his drug problems were continuing to take over his life and he had ignored reporters and photographers while walking briskly through the red carpet on the way to the count.

This time, wearing a warm smile, he took his time, stopping to pose for selfies with youngsters from the Belmont Bombers junior football club.

Sunday night’s count was also a reminder of the stark contrast between Western Australia and much of the rest of the country.

As millions in NSW and Victoria settled in for yet another night in lockdown, Perth was partying like the pandemic had never happened. The count was held at Perth’s glistening stadium – built a couple of years ago for $1.6bn, or the equivalent of a few months of federal GST grants – which will also host a full house of 60,000 this Saturday.

Last year’s Brownlow count was a virtual affair across six different venues (it was derisively described as the worst Zoom call ever) and was held under a relaxed dress code. On Sunday, however, the glitz was well and truly back as Perth celebrated the unlikely turn of events that has seen the footy-mad town win the biggest highlights in the AFL calendar.

Showing the sort of extreme risk-aversion that would make Mr McGowan proud, the AFL decided that both grand final teams would need to watch proceedings from private rooms across from the main count. That’s despite neither side having set foot in Victoria or NSW for a month, and despite WA not having suffered a major outbreak of the virus for the best part of 18 months.