In his exclusive column with the Gold Coast Bulletin, Gary Ablett says he’ll head into Crown Casino tonight with no real expectations. But should the Gold Coast superstar be lucky enough to add a third Brownlow medal to his name, he hopes to do so alongside good mate Joel Selwood.

TONIGHT is one of the most anticipated nights of the AFL year but individual awards — and the Brownlow Medal is our game’s most prestigious — are not something that you ever think about because at the end of the day, all of us play footy because we love it.

We love getting out there with our mates and testing ourselves physically and mentally in the heat of the battle and the friendships that I’ve made in my AFL journey are what I cherish most.

But that said, Brownlow night is a special event for the AFL community and towards the end of the count, when you know you’re in with a chance, the palms do get a bit sweaty.

There are so many great footballers in our game that I never go in with any expectations and tonight’s count must be one of the most open in years.

There are a number of guys who can genuinely win it: Sydney’s Josh Kennedy, Lance Franklin and Port’s Robbie Gray has also had a breakout year.

And then there’s my mate Joel Selwood.

The Geelong captain has had a great year and he is a terrific captain.

Personally I’ve missed too many games with my busted shoulder to even consider myself a realistic chance but it it’s close at the end, I would love it to be a draw between Joel and myself.

Joel is such a fantastic guy who I got to know very well during my time in Geelong and as soon as he walked into the club you could tell he was going to be the future captain.

I’d love to see him finish the night with Charlie around his neck.

They say the Brownlow is a “midfielder’s medal” but the one bloke who could blow that out of the water is Buddy Franklin.

Buddy has had the best year I’ve ever seen him play.

I have also loved how Robbie Gray has gone about his business but it sometimes takes an exceptional year before polling well in the Brownlow — so you can expect big things from him again in 2015.

Brownlow is also a great night to catch up with the boys from other clubs and have a quiet beer and to enjoy a night with our partners and wives.

I’ll be sitting on a table with my SUNS teammates David Swallow, Dion Presita, Tom Lynch and Harley Bennell and I’m expecting these boys to also poll a few votes.

We’ll get there a few hours before the official proceedings start and that’s the best time for all of us to catch up.

I’ll stay in Melbourne until after the grand final and then I’m looking forward to going away with my partner Jordan and putting the feet up and enjoying some time off.

I’m only having a short break as I already feel like I’ve had a bit of an off-season because of my injury and then it’s straight back into rehab to get my shoulder and boy right for next season.

But my immediate battle is trying to get enough movement in my shoulder to get my jacket on tonight.

While I’m out of the sling I still don’t have great mobility and once the jacket’s on, it’ll be staying on.