Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1] It was first presented in the 1979 VFL Grand Final, and was won by Wayne Harmes, playing in Carlton's premiership victory against Collingwood.[2] The award was named in honour of Norm Smith,[2] a former six-time premiership coach for Melbourne.[3]
Norm Smith Medal | |
---|---|
Dustin Martin is the most recent recipient of the Norm Smith Medal, winning in 2019. | |
League | Australian Football League |
Given for | The best on ground in the VFL/AFL Grand Final |
Location | Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) (1979–1990, 1992–present) Waverley Park (1991) |
History | |
First award | 1979 |
First winner | Wayne Harmes |
Most wins | Gary Ayres Andrew McLeod Luke Hodge Dustin Martin (all 2) |
Most recent | Dustin Martin (2019) |
The award is usually won by a player on the winning team in the Grand Final; only four players have received the award as members of the losing teams: Maurice Rioli in 1982, Gary Ablett Sr. in 1989, Nathan Buckley in 2002 and Chris Judd in 2005.[4] Lenny Hayes remains the only player to have won the award in a drawn Grand Final in 2010, with Scott Pendlebury winning the award for the Grand Final replay the following week. Four players, Gary Ayres (1986 and 1988), Andrew McLeod (1997 and 1998), Luke Hodge (2008 and 2014) and Dustin Martin (2017 and 2019), have each won the award twice.[5] The club with the most Norm Smith Medal wins is Hawthorn, with eight awards won by players representing the team. The most recent recipient of the award is Richmond's Dustin Martin, winning in 2019.
Voting and presentation
The winner is voted on by a five-member panel consisting of former players, journalists and media personalities, with one member designated as the chair.[6] Each panellist independently awards 3 votes, 2 votes and 1 vote to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best in the match respectively. These votes are tallied, and the highest number of combined votes wins the medal.[7]
There is no chance of a tie for the medal; if two players are tied for votes, the following countbacks will apply in order:
- the player with the higher number of three-votes;
- the player with the higher number of two-votes;
- the player deemed best by the panel chair.[7]
Paul Chapman is the only player to win on a countback,[8] after he and Jason Gram tied with nine votes apiece in 2009.[9][10]
In some years judges were required to lodge their decisions prior to the completion of the match, to ensure votes were compiled in time for the ceremony.[11] This was changed following the 2002 AFL Grand Final, after Michael Voss had five crucial possessions in the last five minutes of the close game which could have swayed the voting, but eventually placed fourth behind Nathan Buckley.[11] After the match, three of the five judges suggested they would have voted differently if they had lodged their votes after the final siren.[11]
Prior to the 2016 season, if the Grand Final resulted in a draw, the game would be replayed the following week.[12] In such instances, a separate Norm Smith Medal was awarded in each game.[13] Since 2016, a drawn Grand Final would result in the use of extra time to determine the winner, rather than a full match replay.[12]
The medal is presented in a post-match ceremony held immediately after the conclusion of the match. Since 2004, former Norm Smith medallists have presented the award, in the order of the year in which they won;[14] as of 2019, Gary Ablett Sr. is the only former winner to decline presenting the award;[14] and Nathan Buckley's position in the sequence was skipped in 2019 as he was coaching Collingwood, who were yet to be eliminated when the decision on presenter had to be made.[15]
Recipients
^ | Player was member of losing team |
Players with multiple wins
Player | Team | Medals | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Gary Ayres | Hawthorn | 2 | 1986, 1988 |
Andrew McLeod | Adelaide | 2 | 1997, 1998 |
Luke Hodge | Hawthorn | 2 | 2008, 2014 |
Dustin Martin | Richmond | 2 | 2017, 2019 |
Club totals
† | Club no longer participates in the AFL |
Club | Total | Years |
---|---|---|
Hawthorn | 8 | 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
West Coast | 5 | 1992, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2018 |
Carlton | 4 | 1979, 1981, 1987, 1995 |
Essendon | 4 | 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000 |
Geelong | 4 | 1989, 2007, 2009, 2011 |
Richmond | 4 | 1980, 1982, 2017, 2019 |
Collingwood | 3 | 1990, 2002, 2010[b] |
Adelaide | 2 | 1997, 1998 |
North Melbourne | 2 | 1996, 1999 |
Brisbane Lions | 2 | 2001, 2003 |
Port Adelaide | 1 | 2004 |
St Kilda | 1 | 2010[b] |
Sydney | 1 | 2012 |
Western Bulldogs | 1 | 2016 |
Melbourne | 0[c] | — |
Fremantle | 0[d] | — |
Greater Western Sydney | 0[e] | — |
Gold Coast | —[f] | — |
Fitzroy† | —[g] | — |
Brisbane Bears† | —[h] | — |
See also
Notes
- a Due to military use from 1942 to 1945 during World War II,[53] Grand Finals were held at Princes Park in 1942, 1943 and 1945, and at Junction Oval in 1944.[54]
- b Two medals were awarded in 2010 as the Grand Final was originally drawn, with the match replayed the following week as a result.[55] Lenny Hayes and Scott Pendlebury were awarded the Norm Smith Medal in the respective matches.[42][43]
- c Melbourne has played in two Grand Finals (1988 and 2000) since the Norm Smith Medal was first awarded in 1979, and did not have a player win the medal in either match.[56]
- d Fremantle has played in one Grand Final (2013) since the club joined the AFL in 1995, and did not have a player win the medal in that match.[57]
- e GWS has played in one Grand Final (2019) since the club joined the AFL in 2012, and did not have a player win the medal in that match.[58]
- f Gold Coast joined the AFL in 2011, with the club yet to participate in a Grand Final.[57]
- g Fitzroy did not feature in a Grand Final from when the Norm Smith Medal was first awarded in 1979 to the club's final season in the VFL/AFL in 1996.[59][60]
- h The Brisbane Bears participated in the VFL/AFL from 1987 to 1996, and did not qualify for a Grand Final during that time.[61]
References
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- Lovett, Michael, ed. (2010). AFL Record Season Guide 2010. ISBN 978-0-9806274-5-9.