AFL Coaches Association awards explained

The AFL Coaches Association awards are a group of awards which have been presented annually since 2003, mainly to players and coaches in the Australian Football League (AFL), voted for by all AFL coaches.

Awards

Champion Player of the Year

Awarded annually since 2003. Each week, the senior coach of each AFL club gives five votes to the player they consider to be best on ground in the game in which their team plays, four to the second-best, and so on to one for the fifth-best. The player with the most votes at the end of the year wins. The award has different rules to many "best and fairest" awards, as player suspensions are disregarded.

Year	Winner	Club
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008	(2)
2009	(3)
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015^[1]
2016^[2]
2017^[3]
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
	(2)
2023

Gary Ayres Award

Awarded since 2016. Each week during the finals series, the senior coach of each competing AFL club gives five votes to the player they consider to be best on ground in the game their team plays in, four to the second-best, and so on to one for the fifth-best. The player with the most votes at the end of the finals series wins. The award is named after Gary Ayres, a 5-time VFL/AFL premiership player and Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee.

Year	Winner	Club
2016^[4]
2017^[5]
2018
2019	(2)
2020	(3)
2021^[6]
2022^[7]
2023^[8]	Sam Walsh	Carlton

Best Young Player

Awarded annually since 2003. Unlike some other "best young player" awards, there is no age or game limit. Awarded to the best player inside the first two seasons of their AFL careers based on the weekly AFLCA Player of the Year votes.

Year	Winner	Club
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award

Awarded annually since 2003. At the end of the season, all AFL coaches give three votes to the senior coach they adjudge to have performed the best over that season, two to the second-best, and one to the third-best. The coach with the most votes wins. Ken Hinkley, Luke Beveridge, John Longmire, John Worsfold and Mark Thompson are the only coaches to have won the award more than once, with two each.

Year	Winner	Club
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008	(2)
2009
2010
2011	(2)
2012
2013
2014	(2)
2015^[9]
2016	(2)
2017^[10]
2018
2019
2020	(2)
2021
2022^[11]
2023	^[12]

Assistant Coach of the Year

Awarded annually since 2003. At the end of the season, all AFL coaches and players rate their club's assistant coaches out of ten, with ten being the highest score. Assistant coaches' scores are then averaged, and the coach with the highest score wins.

Year	Winner	Club
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010^[13]
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018	(2)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award

Awarded annually since 2003. In recognition of "an individual who has made an outstanding contribution" to Australian rules football. Renamed from Lifetime Achievement Award to Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Year	Winner
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Coaching Legend Award

Awarded annually from 2009 to 2018. Awarded to a former VFL/AFL coach who has achieved "significant achievement and success".

Year	Winner	VFL/AFL club/s
2009		,
2010
2011		,,,
2012		,,
2013
		,
2014		,
2015		,,
2016		,,,
2017		,,,
2018		,

Media Award

Awarded annually since 2009. Awarded to an individual who displays "respected and insightful coverage of AFL football at the professional level". All AFL coaches can nominate an individual.

Year	Winner
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015	(2)
2016	(3)
2017	(4)
2018	(5)
2019	(6)
2020	(7)
2021	(8)
2022	(9)
2023	(10)

Career & Education Award

Awarded annually since 2014.^[14] Awarded to an AFL coach who has "shown exceptional commitment to their professional development".

Year	Winner	Club
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020	not awarded
2021
2022
2023

Development Coach of the Year Award

Awarded in 2012 and 2013 and then reintroduced annually from 2022. Based on 50-50 input from both players and coaches, it is awarded to the highest-ranked AFL development coach based on "their overall performance [that] year".^[15]

Year	Winner	Club
2012
2013
2022
2023	(2)

Phil Walsh Memorial Scholarship

Awarded annually since 2016. Awarded to an AFL coach who is "committed to developing themselves via study and travel".^[16]

Year	Winner	Club
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Support Staff Leadership Award

Awarded annually from 2003 to 2014. Awarded to an Australian rules support staff member who shows "outstanding contribution, innovation, [or] initiative in carrying out [their] duties".^[17]

Year	Winner	VFL/AFL club/s
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007		,,
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

All-Australian team

A representative team was selected by the AFLCA in 2015 and 2016. In its first year, in what was described as "ditching traditional positions in favour of modern tactics,"^[18] in each position on the field (decided by analysts), the highest-scoring player from the Champion Player of the Year Award voting was chosen. In its final year, a more traditional team line-up was selected.

2015 team

2015 AFL Coaches Association All-Australian team
Name	Position	Club
	Tall/medium defender
	Tall defender
	Small defender
	Medium defender
	Tall defender
	Medium defender
	Ruckman
	Inside/outside midfielder
	Inside midfielder
	Inside midfielder
	Inside midfielder
	Inside/outside midfielder
	Inside/outside midfielder
	Key forward
	High half-forward
	Small forward
	Key forward
	Tall/medium forward
	Interchange inside midfielder
Scott Pendlebury (captain)	Interchange inside/outside midfielder
	Interchange inside/outside midfielder
	Interchange ruckman

2016 team

2016 AFL Coaches Association All-Australian team^[19]
B	Josh Gibson	Alex Rance	Rory Laird
HB	Callan Ward	Robbie Tarrant	Corey Enright
C	Marcus Bontempelli	Joel Selwood (captain)	Patrick Dangerfield
HF	Dan Hannebery	Tom Lynch	Robbie Gray
F	Eddie Betts	Josh Kennedy	Nick Riewoldt
Foll	Max Gawn	Rory Sloane	Dustin Martin
Int	Luke Parker	Scott Pendlebury	Luke Shuey
	Todd Goldstein

AFLW champion player of the year

Awarded each season since 2018. Each week, the senior coach of each AFL Women's club gives five votes to the player they consider to be best on ground in the game in which their team plays, four to the second-best, and so on to one for the fifth-best. The player with the most votes at the end of the season wins. The award has different rules to many "best and fairest" awards, as player suspensions are disregarded.

Season	Winner	Club
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022 (S6)
2022 (S7)	(2)
2023	(3)

AFLW senior coach of the year

Awarded each season since 2019. After the preliminary finals, the senior coach of each AFL Women's club gives three votes to the other coach they consider to have performed best throughout the season, two to the second-best, and one to the third-best. The coach with the most votes from this process wins.

Season	Winner	Club
2019
2020
2021
2022 (S6)
2022 (S7)	(2)
2023
	(3)

External links

• AFL Coaches Association awards homepage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Laughton . Max . 8 September 2015 . Sydney‘s Dan Hannebery wins AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year Award over Nat Fyfe . 7 November 2015 . Fox Footy.
2. News: Schmook . Nathan . 29 August 2016 . Superstar Cat wins AFLCA award with record haul . AFL.com.au . . 29 August 2016.
3. News: Schmook . Nathan . 4 September 2017 . Votes record decides AFLCA player of the year . AFL.com.au . . 4 September 2017.
4. News: Laughton . Max . 3 October 2016 . Swan Josh Kennedy inaugural winner of Gary Ayres Award for best finals player, Grand Final coaches votes . . . 6 December 2021.
5. News: Laughton . Max . 2 October 2017 . Dustin Martin earns AFLCA Gary Ayres Award for best finals player but Bachar Houli voted best in Grand Final . Fox Sports . News Corp Australia . 6 December 2021.
6. News: Macrae claims Gary Ayres Medal . Western Bulldogs . . 6 December 2021.
7. Web site: Cellini . Aidan . 26 September 2022 . Patrick Dangerfield wins 2022 Gary Ayres Medal after impressive AFL Finals Series . 26 September 2022 . Sporting News.
8. Web site: Brisbane Lion Keidean Coleman finished second and Pies Premiership star Bobby Hill finished third claiming the 15 @AFLCoaches grand final votes! . 2023-10-02 . X (formerly Twitter) . en.
9. Web site: 30 September 2015 . Beveridge wins AFL coaches award . 7 November 2015 . SBS.
10. News: McFarlane . Glenn . 26 September 2017 . Damien Hardwick caps amazing Tiger turnaround by being named AFL Coach of the Year . .
11. News: Ryan . Peter . Pierik . Jon . Spits . Scott . 20 September 2022 . McRae earns top coaching honour; Pies delist Brown brothers; Watson says Hird ‘very keen’ to return . .
12. Web site: Outstanding inaugural season sees Kingsley crowned coach of the year. AFL.com.au. Riley. Beveridge. 26 September 2023. 26 September 2023.
13. News: Edmund . Sam . 13 October 2010 . Cats assistant coach Brendan McCartney moves to Essendon . Herald Sun . 7 November 2015.
14. Web site: 2015-07-08 . AFL Coaches Association Awards: Career & Education Award . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150708005232/http://www.aflca.com.au/index.php?id=8 . 2015-07-08 . 2023-08-31 . AFL Coaches Association.
15. Web site: 2023-08-31 . Development Coach of the Year - AFLCA Awards . 2023-08-31 . . en.
16. Web site: All the winners from AFLCA Awards Night. AFL Coaches Association. 29 September 2015. 16 February 2018.
17. Web site: AFLCA Industry Awards. AFL Coaches Association. 1 January 2009. 15 February 2018.
18. Web site: Coaches shock with revolutionary AA team. AFL. 22 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160201044120/http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-22/coaches-all-australian-team-leaves-out-mitchell-walker-betts. 1 February 2016.
19. Web site: Riewoldt named in AFLCA All Australian team. St Kilda Football Club. Gabelich. Josh. 31 August 2016. 28 July 2017.