BAILEY Smith has capped a brilliant season by winning his first Carji Greeves Medal as Geelong's best and fairest.
Smith, who was named All-Australian for the second straight year and finished second in the Brownlow Medal behind Collingwood's Nick Daicos, polled 178 votes to finish clear of runner-up Max Holmes (151 votes) and third-placed Shaun Mannagh (131).
Young defender Connor O'Sullivan polled 129 votes to finish fourth in just his third AFL season, while All-Australian winger Ollie Dempsey was fifth with 128.
Just nine votes separated third place from ninth place in a closely contested count, but Smith was a clear winner after finishing second last year.
He played 24 of a possible 25 games, averaging a career-high 32.3 possessions per game, including three matches where he collected more than 40 disposals.
Last year's winner Holmes played just 20 games and, but for injury, could well have challenged Smith for overall honours.
Mannagh enjoyed his best season at AFL level, spending more time in the midfield while still kicking 38 goals including a career-high five majors against Brisbane in round 10.
Ruck Mitch Edwards was named the club's best young player and veteran utility Mark Blicavs received the Tom Harley Best Club Person award for the second successive year, having shared it with Tom Atkins last year.
2026 Carji Greeves Medal leaderboard
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.
