Leigh Matthews Trophy

The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was still known as the Victorian Football League. The trophy was first awarded in 2002, and all previous VFLPA/AFLPA MVPs were retrospectively given the Matthews Trophy in 2005. It is awarded at a special AFL Players Association awards ceremony.

The voting procedure for the award is:

  • At the end of the regular season, each team votes for three players (previously two) to be considered for election.
  • Two weeks into the finals, the AFLPA sends a final ballot to all players throughout the league. Players cannot vote for their own teammates; in fact, the ballots sent to each team are redacted to remove that team's nominees. Each player awards three votes to the player he believes is the best in the league, two votes to the second-best, and one vote to the third-best.[1] The leading vote-getter receives the trophy.

Prior to 2011, each player cast a single vote for the award.

The award is roughly analogous to the Brownlow Medal, the traditional "best and fairest" award in the league. However, the voting system is completely different: the Brownlow Medal awards votes on a game-by-game basis, while Leigh Matthews Trophy awards a single vote based on the entire season. In particular, this has meant that key-position players have been more likely to win this award than the Brownlow Medal. For example, Wayne Carey, generally regarded as one of the league's all-time great key position players, never won the Brownlow, but won this honour twice.

The Leigh Matthews Trophy is strictly for the most valuable player, not the best and fairest as is the case with the Brownlow Medal. A league disciplinary suspension, which renders a player ineligible for the Brownlow, does not exclude a player from contention for the Matthews Trophy. In 1996, Corey McKernan finished tied in the Brownlow voting with that season's winners James Hird and Michael Voss, but was disqualified from the Brownlow because of a disciplinary suspension. However, McKernan won the AFLPA MVP award that season.

Winners

YearPlayerTeam
1982Leigh MatthewsHawthorn
1983Terry DaniherEssendon
1984Russell GreeneHawthorn
1985Greg WilliamsGeelong
1986Paul RoosFitzroy
1987Tony LockettSt Kilda
1988Gerard HealySydney
1989Tim WatsonEssendon
1990Darren MillaneCollingwood
1991Jim StynesMelbourne
1992Jason DunstallHawthorn
1993Gary Ablett, Sr.Geelong
1994Greg WilliamsCarlton
1995Wayne CareyNorth Melbourne
1996Corey McKernanNorth Melbourne
1997Robert HarveySt Kilda
1998Wayne CareyNorth Melbourne
1999Shane CrawfordHawthorn
2000Anthony KoutoufidesCarlton
2001Andrew McLeodAdelaide
2002Luke Darcy
Michael Voss		Western Bulldogs
Brisbane Lions
2003Michael VossBrisbane Lions
2004Nick RiewoldtSt Kilda
2005Ben CousinsWest Coast
2006Chris JuddWest Coast
2007Gary Ablett, Jr.Geelong
2008Gary Ablett, Jr.Geelong
2009Gary Ablett, Jr.Geelong
2010Dane SwanCollingwood
2011Chris JuddCarlton
2012Gary Ablett, Jr.Gold Coast
2013Gary Ablett, Jr.Gold Coast
2014Nat FyfeFremantle
2015Nat FyfeFremantle
2016Patrick DangerfieldGeelong
2017Dustin MartinRichmond
2018Tom MitchellHawthorn

Multiple winners

The following players have won the Leigh Matthews Trophy multiple times.

WinsPlayerTeamSeasons
5 Gary Ablett, Jr.Geelong / Gold Coast2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013
2 Greg WilliamsGeelong / Carlton1985, 1994
Wayne CareyNorth Melbourne1995, 1998
Michael VossBrisbane Lions2002, 2003
Chris JuddWest Coast / Carlton2006, 2011
Nat FyfeFremantle2014, 2015

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Heath (12 Sep 2011). "Judd takes home Players' MVP double". Australian Football League Players' Association. Retrieved 12 Sep 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.