Crow Scott Thompson has been elevated to joint-runner up of the 2012 Brownlow Medal.

On Tuesday, the AFL Commission ruled that Richmond captain Trent Cotchin and four-time Hawthorn premiership player Sam Mitchell will both be awarded the 2012 Brownlow Medal.

The pair finished equal-second behind Jobe Watson in 2012, but will now receive medals after Watson said he would hand back his medal as a result of Essendon's supplements program.

Watson won the 2012 medal on 30 votes ahead of Cotchin and Mitchell who tied with 26 votes.

Thompson and Collingwood star Dane Swan, who won the Brownlow Medal in 2011, finished one vote further back with 25 each.

It’s Thompson’s best-ever finish in a Brownlow Medal. The two-time Crows Club Champion holds the record for most career Brownlow Medal votes by a Crow (155).

Former Crow Patrick Dangerfield, who won the Brownlow Medal playing for Geelong this season, polled 23 votes in 2012 – one behind Gold Coast Suns star Gary Ablett.

Cotchin, 26, becomes just the fifth Richmond player to win the Brownlow following Stan Judkins (1930), Bill Morris (1948), Roy Wright (1952 and 1954) and Ian Stewart (1971).

Mitchell, 34, joins Col Austen (1949), Robert DiPierdomenico (1986), John Platten (1987) and Shane Crawford (1999) as Hawthorn Brownlow winners. He joined West Coast last month during the AFL trade period.

Revised 2012 Brownlow Medal Leaderboard

26 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond) and Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)

25 – Scott Thompson (Adelaide) and Dane Swan (Collingwood)

24 – Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)

23 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)

19 – Josh Kennedy (Sydney Swans), Dayne Beams (Collingwood) and Lenny Hayes (St Kilda)