Geelong star Gary Ablett has expressed sympathy for Collingwood rival Dane Swan in the wake of Monday's AFL Brownlow Medal count.

But Ablett thinks the Magpies midfielder will have no trouble re-focussing ahead of Saturday's grand final against St Kilda.

Swan was the hottest of favourites before the count, only to finish third behind winner Chris Judd and Ablett, who won the medal in 2009.

Ablett looked relaxed at the count and continued to give no indication of whether he will stay at Geelong or accept the lucrative offer from Gold Coast.

The 2009 champ was philosophical about finishing runner-up this time, while praising Judd and feeling for Swan.

"Judd is obviously a fantastic player ... to win two Brownlows is a pretty amazing effort," Ablett said.

"I felt a bit sorry for Swanny, it's a pretty tough thing to come in as the favourite, especially a lot of people had already said he's got the medal around his neck."

Ablett was also the pre-count favourite two years ago when Adam Cooney won, before taking out last year's medal.

"I've been through that, but probably not as an outright favourite as Swanny was tonight," Ablett said.

"He's had a fantastic season - I'm not taking away anything from Judd - but it would be good if you could get four or five (joint) winners."

Ablett said the night would not have been a major distraction for Swan and he suspects the Magpie star will have cause for celebration late on Saturday afternoon.

"It's not hard when you've got a shot at a premiership - you sit there and drink waters all night and think about that.

"It's what you play footy for, I'm sure ... he'll get a good night's sleep and get on with what he has to do.

"They're both great sides, but if Collingwood play as well as they did against us, they'll be very hard to beat."

As the previous year's winner, Ablett had the honour of putting the medal around Judd's neck.

Asked how it felt to give the award to another of the game's modern greats, Ablett joked: "I would have preferred to wrap it around my own neck.

"I've loved watching Juddy over the years, he's a pretty amazing player.

"I guess the thing I loved most about him winning ... is that certain players get tagged more than others.

"Judd is one of those players who, for probably 18 out of 22 weeks, he gets a heavy tag.

"I think you have to take that into consideration when you're giving votes - it was good to see that probably happened (this year)."

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