JORDAN Dawson made it four Malcolm Blight Medals in a row at Adelaide, superstar Hawk Nick Watson claimed his first Peter Crimmins Medal and Will Ashcroft added a Merrett-Murray Medal to his overflowing trophy cabinet at Brisbane. 

These were just a handful of the big talking points that emerged from this year's club awards season, which concluded with St Kilda's best and fairest award on Monday evening, where Cal Wilkie went back-to-back in the Trevor Barker Award. 

Check out the top 10 of every club's best and fairest award below. 

2026 Malcolm Blight Medal

1. Jordan Dawson - 158 votes
2. Lachlan McAndrew - 135
3. Alex Neal-Bullen - 132
4. Wayne Milera - 128
5. Izak Rankine - 124
6. Sam Berry - 113
7. Josh Worrell - 105
8. Ben Keays - 99
9. Josh Rachele - 97
10. Brayden Cook - 96

How they vote: The award is calculated by coaches rating every player with a score from 1-10 after every game, including finals.

2026 Merrett-Murray Medal 

1. Will Ashcroft - 71 votes
2. Josh Dunkley - 69
3. Lachie Neale - 65
=4. Charlie Cameron - 63
=4. Darcy Wilmot - 63
=6. Logan Morris - 61
=6. Harris Andrews - 61
8. Zac Bailey - 60
=9. Sam Draper - 57
=9. Levi Ashcroft - 57

How they vote: The senior coach and his assistant coaches allocate up to four votes each for an individual performance, meaning the maximum a player can receive for one match is 24 votes.

2026 John Nicholls Medal

1. Sam Walsh - 212
2. Ollie Florent - 177
3. Patrick Cripps - 176
4. Jagga Smith - 167
5. Lachie Cowan - 150
6. Nick Haynes - 140
7. Harry Dean - 136
8. George Hewett - 127
=9. Ben Ainsworth - 126
=9. Francis Evans - 126

How they vote: Carlton's best and fairest is decided by the senior coach and three assistants giving as many players as they choose between 0-4 votes per game. The most votes any player can poll in a single match is 16.

2026 E.W. Copeland Trophy

1. Nick Daicos – 519 votes 
2. Josh Daicos – 365 
3. Darcy Cameron – 349 
4. Dan Houston – 348
5. Isaac Quaynor – 337
6. Dan McStay – 332 
7. Billy Frampton – 331 
8. Jordan De Goey – 325
9. Jack Crisp – 313
10. Lachie Schultz – 299

How they vote: Craig McRae and four assistants are asked to vote on every player, including in finals. Each player can receive votes between 0-6 on their overall impact on the game. The maximum number of votes a player can receive per round is 30 votes. In the event that two or more players finish with the same number of votes, this will result in a tie.

2026 Crichton Medal

1. Zach Merrett - 117 votes
2. Sam Durham - 106
3. Archie Roberts - 77
4. Nate Caddy - 76
5. Peter Wright - 71
6. Zach Reid - 59
7. Dyson Sharp - 52
8. Sullivan Robey - 45
9. Jaxon Prior - 40
10. Jacob Farrow - 39

How they vote: All players are given an overall score out of five for their performance and also given a rating out of five for key Bomber attributes that when combined give them a maximum of 25 votes a game.

2026 Doig Medal

1. Luke Jackson - 269 votes
2. Andrew Brayshaw - 229
3. Caleb Serong - 228
4. Josh Treacy - 225
5. Shai Bolton - 218
6. Jye Amiss - 191
7. Pat Voss - 181
8. Sam Switkowski - 173
9. Murphy Reid - 172
10. Alex Pearce - 164

How they vote: Senior coach Justin Longmuir, along with assistant coaches each award players 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 votes after an AFL match – including finals. The maximum a player can poll in one match is 20 votes.

2026 Carji Greeves Medal

1. Bailey Smith - 178 votes
2. Max Holmes - 151
3. Shaun Mannagh - 131
4. Connor O’Sullivan - 129
5. Ollie Dempsey - 128
6. Oisin Mullin - 127
7. Tom Stewart - 126
8. Shannon Neale - 123
9. Lawson Humphries - 122
10. Tanner Bruhn - 113

How the voting works: After each game, the coaches review and rate each player’s performance on a scale of 0 to 10. Votes are only polled in games where a player’s performance has been deemed of a high quality by the coaching group. All matches are counted towards their final total.

2026 Club Champion Award

1. Bodhi Uwland - 57
2. Sam Collins - 54
3. Mac Andrew - 50
4. Leo Lombard - 45
=5. Touk Miller - 40
=5. Noah Anderson - 40
7. John Noble - 37
=8. Matt Rowell - 33
=8. Ned Moyle - 33
=10. Christian Petracca - 31
=10. Ben Long - 31
=10. Bailey Humphrey - 31   

How they vote: Players are assessed on their performance by Gold Coast's match committee, with all players receiving a rating from 0-5 for each game they play. The match committee makes a joint decision on each player, meaning the maximum votes a player can receive in any match is five.

2026 Kevin Sheedy Medal 

1. Lachie Ash - 71 votes
2. Connor Idun - 69
3. Clayton Oliver - 67
4. Toby Greene - 59
5. Finn Callaghan - 56
6. Lachie Whitfield - 55
7. Jake Stringer - 50
8. Harvey Thomas - 44
9. Harry Himmelberg - 33
10. Ryan Angwin - 32

How they vote: The Kevin Sheedy Medal is voted on by each line coach rating their respective players from a pre-determined performance scale, submitting their rating to coach Adam Kingsley who then allocates up to eight votes per player.

2026 Peter Crimmins Medal

1 Nick Watson - 150 votes
2. Jai Newcombe - 131
3. Jarman Impey - 123
4. Connor Macdonald - 121 
5. Josh Ward - 117 
6. Blake Hardwick - 109 
=7. Massimo D'Ambrosio - 108
=7. Jack Gunston - 108 
9. Dylan Moore - 107 
10. James Sicily - 105

How they vote: Coaches gave one vote to players who played their role or beat their opponent, two votes for those who had a significant influence on the game, three votes to the best player or players on the ground and, on rare occasions, a player or players might receive four votes for an exceptional game.

2026 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy

1. Max Gawn - 680 votes 
2. Kysaiah Pickett - 611
3. Tom Sparrow - 545
4. Kade Chandler - 537
5. Jack Steele - 526
6. Koltyn Tholstrup - 455
7. Harry Sharp - 415
8. Ed Langdon - 389
9. Daniel Turner - 379
10. Harvey Langford - 376

How they vote: The senior coach and his three assistant coaches awarded players up to a maximum of 40 votes for each match.

2026 Syd Barker Medal

1. Harry Sheezel - 222 votes
2. Luke Davies-Uniacke - 220
3. Jy Simpkin - 203
4. Luke Parker - 202
5. Caleb Daniel - 199
6. Tristan Xerri - 171
7. Paul Curtis - 165
8. Finn O'Sullivan - 156
9. Colby McKercher - 147
10. Charlie Comben - 146

How they vote: Coaches vote individually after each round via a 4-3-2-1 voting system. The votes can be applied to every player but don’t have to be awarded if a player is not deserving. Five coaches vote each week, with a player able to receive a maximum of 20 votes in any one game. If two players finish on the same number of votes, a countback is applicable for all minor placings.

2026 John Cahill Medal

1. Jason Horne-Francis - 88 votes
2. Zak Butters - 83
3. Mitch Georgiades - 69
4. Willem Drew - 56  
5. Joe Richards - 55   
6. Jordon Sweet - 54
7. Jase Burgoyne - 51
8. Aliir Aliir - 46
=9. Darcy Byrne-Jones - 43
=9. Ollie Wines - 43

How they vote: Following the completion of each game, a three-person panel, made up of senior coach Josh Carr, each player's respective line coach and GM – Football Ben Rutton cast their votes. Each player's performance is rated between zero and five, with a maximum of 15 and minimum of zero votes awarded per player, per game.

2026 Jack Dyer Medal

1. Tim Taranto - 55 votes
2. Jack Ross - 47
3. Nick Vlastuin - 32
=4. Seth Campbell - 31
=4. Dion Prestia - 31
6. Nathan Broad - 28
7. Jayden Short - 27
=8. Toby Nankervis - 24
=8. Ben Miller - 24
=10. Noah Balta - 23
=10. Patrick Retschko - 23

How they vote: After each game, all of the team’s players on a match day receive a rating from 0-5 based on their overall performance. The match committee assesses each player’s offensive, defensive, and contest impacts on the game. Following that, the 0-5 rating is given, as a joint match committee decision. Votes are not allocated for what the match committee deems as below-average performances.

2026 Trevor Barker Award

1. Callum Wilkie - 255 votes
2. Jack Silvagni - 250
3. Max Hall - 241
4. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera - 219
5. Hugo Garcia - 185
6. Bradley Hill - 177
7. Mitchito Owens - 174
8. Jack Sinclair - 156
9. Darcy Wilson - 145
10. Rowan Marshall - 137

How they vote: The Trevor Barker Award sees coaches independently award votes between zero and four to players throughout the season to determine the best and fairest. Votes are attracted through not only solo on-field contributions, but also how best an individual plays their role, assists their teammates and represents the team agreed upon Saints brand of football. 

2026 Bob Skilton Medal

1. Isaac Heeney - 431 votes
2. Brodie Grundy - 400
3. Charlie Curnow - 398
4. Chad Warner - 397
5. Jai Serong - 352
6. Callum Mills - 342
7. Nick Blakey - 339
8. Tom McCartin - 338
9. Tom Papley - 304
10. James Jordon - 301

How they vote: The Bob Skilton Medal is determined by the Swans match committee, who each award up to five votes to players based on their performance in each game. There is no restriction on the number of players who can be awarded votes in any given round.

2026 John Worsfold Medal 

1. Harley Reid - 260 votes
2. Jake Waterman - 209
3. Tim Kelly - 193
4. Milan Murdock - 170
5. Brady Hough - 166
6. Tom McCarthy - 164
7. Willem Duursma - 163
8. Elliot Yeo - 161
9. Reuben Ginbey - 159
10. Liam Baker - 155

How they vote: The five members of West Coast's match committee each cast a maximum of four votes for every player per match, with a possible maximum of 20 votes in any game.

2026 Charles Sutton Medal 

1. Marcus Bontempelli - 319 votes
2. Ed Richards - 248
3. James O’Donnell - 231
4. Buku Khamis - 194
5. Aaron Naughton - 192
6. Bailey Dale - 177
7. Matthew Kennedy - 149
8. Bailey Williams - 142
9. Lachlan Bramble - 127
10. Tim English - 111

How they vote: The voting process sees the five-man match committee award up to five votes each – for a maximum of 25 – following each match.