North Melbourne key forward Ben Brown’s hot form has been recognised by his peers with his first nomination for the AFL Players’ Association’s Most Valuable Player of the Month.

Brown, who is currently second in the race for the Coleman Medal behind Joe Daniher despite his club’s inconsistent season, has kicked 17 goals in the past four weeks, taking his overall tally to 51.

However, Brown will face stiff competition for July’s gong, with Dustin Martin backing up his June MVP of the Month title with his fourth consecutive nomination.

Patrick Dangerfield is again in the running thanks to his third nomination and Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell joined the conversation after a month of football where he averaged more than 36 disposals per game.

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin is also nominated for the first time, while Brisbane dynamo Dayne Zorko rounds out the midfield dominant group.

This is the fourth voting period of the AFLPA’s MVP of the Month, which was created to recognise the individual performances of the game’s most valuable throughout the season.

Previous winners include Rory Sloane (March/April) Josh Kelly (May) and Dustin Martin (June).

Each month, players vote to decide their MVP of the Month, with every winner automatically nominated for the end-of-season AFL Players’ MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy).

AFL Players’ MVP winners Leigh Matthews (1982), Gerard Healy (1988), Tim Watson (1989) and Chris Judd (2006, 2011) are responsible for compiling a list of nominees before the current male players vote to decide the monthly winner.

The six MVP of the Month nominees for July, as determined by the MVP winners, can be viewed below:

Dustin Martin (Richmond)

Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn)

Dayne Zorko (Brisbane)

Ben Brown (North Melbourne)

Trent Cotchin (Richmond)

Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)