COLLINGWOOD star Nick Daicos has completed a rare double, voted the best player in the game by his peers on Tuesday night having also been awarded the coaches' Champion Player of the Year Award.
Daicos has won his second consecutive Leigh Matthews Trophy as the players' Most Valuable Player for 2026, becoming the youngest ever multiple winner of the award.
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He was crowned the players' MVP ahead of Western Bulldogs champion Marcus Bontempelli and Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson, who was named Best Captain for the second year in a row while the Crows star also won the Robert Rose Most Courageous Award.
Dawson paid an emotional tribute to his late brother Jaryd, who tragically passed away earlier this year.
Having won the AFL Coaches' Association award earlier in the evening, Daicos becomes just the sixth player after Gary Ablett jnr (three times), Dane Swan, Patrick Dangerfield, Dustin Martin and Lachie Neale to win both the AFLPA and AFLCA awards in the same season.
He is the eighth multiple winner of the Leigh Matthews Trophy since the award was introduced in 1982, joining Ablett (five times), Bontempelli (three), Greg Williams, Wayne Carey, Michael Voss, Chris Judd and Nat Fyfe.
In five seasons in the AFL, Daicos now has two first-placed finishes to go with two top-five placings, while he was named the AFLPA's Best First-Year Player in his debut season.
"It's incredibly special to be recognised by the people I play both with and against," Daicos said.
"There's so much talent in our game and I see first-hand the work we all put in every single week to get better, so I want to thank my teammates and coaches who help enable me to be the player I am.
"This award has a storied history, with some of the greats of our game being past winners, so to be honoured as the players' MVP is truly humbling."
MVP voting starts with each player nominating three teammates for the award, meaning a final list of 54 nominees. Players then vote on a 3-2-1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs.
Young Carlton defender Harry Dean took out the Best First-Year Award ahead of West Coast young gun Willem Duursma and Melbourne mid-season recruit Joel Fitzgerald.
2026 AFLPA AWARDS
AFLPA MVP – Nick Daicos
AFLPA Most Courageous – Jordan Dawson
AFLPA Best First Year Player – Harry Dean
AFLPA Best Captain – Jordan Dawson
Leigh Matthews Trophy (MVP)
1) Nick Daicos
2) Marcus Bontempelli
2) Jordan Dawson
Robert Rose Award (Most Courageous)
1) Jordan Dawson
2) Zak Butters
3) Brayden Maynard
Best First-Year Player Award
1) Harry Dean
2) Willem Duursma
3) Joel Fitzgerald
Best Captain
1) Jordan Dawson
2) Max Gawn
3) Alex Pearce
The winners of the MVP, Best First-Year Player and Most Courageous Player are determined by a two-stage voting process.
Players first select three teammates, with those results tallied into a list of 54 nominees across the 18 clubs. All players then vote on a 3-2-1 basis, but they are not able to vote for a player at their own club. The player with the most votes wins.
Every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.