Zak Butters polled 27 Brownlow votes on Monday evening, taking his career tally to 33. Image: AFL Photos.

PORT ADELAIDE midfielder Zak Butters has finished fourth in the 2023 Brownlow Medal voting after a late charge up the leaderboard.

Butters finished just four votes behind the runaway leader Lachie Neale from Brisbane, who with a best on ground performance in the final round claimed his second Brownlow Medal, backing up his 2020 triumph.

The Lions star is the first Brisbane player to win multiple Brownlows and the second Brisbane/Fitzroy Lion after Haydn Bunton Sr (1931, 1932 and 1935) to win multiple awards.

He is just the 16th man to win multiple Brownlow Medals.

Butters’ 27 votes was the most votes he had polled in a single season, far exceeding the three votes he polled in 2022 and easily surpassing his overall career tally of six.

He started slowly, having only three votes by Round 8 but having received three votes as best on ground on seven occasions and two votes twice Butters came home strong.

In his first full season in the midfield, the courageous right footer averaged a career-best 27.5 disposals and 4.4 clearances per game to go with 3.4 tackles.

Butters 29 votes is the second most by any Port Adelaide player at the Brownlow. Image: AFL Photos.

His season had already been rewarded with a maiden All-Australian blazer as well as the AFL Coaches’ Association's Champion Player of the Year Award and the AFL Players’ Association's Most Courageous Player Award. He was also third in the AFLPA's MVP Award. 

A total of nine Port Adelaide players polled a total of 86 votes.

Connor Rozee surpassed his career-best 14 votes in 2022 to finish inside the top-10 with 21 votes while in his first season at the club Jason Horne-Francis also polled double figures with 16 votes – the first time he had collected any votes from the umpires after failing to catch their attention in his debut season at North Melbourne in 2022.

In other awards announced on the night, Greater Western Sydney tall Harry Himmelberg was awarded the Four’N Twenty Mark of the Year for his high leap against Adelaide in Round 1, and the rebel Goal of the Year was awarded to Brisbane’s Will Ashcroft for his quick-thinking piece of skill from the boundary in Round 7 against Fremantle.

The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was won by Carlton’s Sam Docherty for his work to raise funds and awareness for cancer research, having twice recovered from testicular cancer himself.

Docherty receives $40,000 to be donated to the charity or community program of his choice.