Geoff Christian Medal
The Geoff Christian Medal, commonly referred to as the Christian Medal, is an Australian rules football award given to the best player in the Australian Football League (AFL) from one of the two teams based in Western Australia, the Fremantle Football Club and the West Coast Eagles. First awarded during the 1999 season, the award is named after and struck in honour of Geoff Christian (1934–1998), a sports writer and broadcaster who served as chief football writer for The West Australian between 1961 and 1988, before being posthumously inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and 2004, respectively.[1]
Votes for the medal are awarded by ABC Radio commentators on a 3–2–1 basis at the end of each match.[2] The most recent medal, awarded at the end of the 2016 regular season, was won by Fremantle's Lachie Neale.[3] The award has been won multiple times by 5 players, Matthew Pavlich, Paul Hasleby and Nat Fyfe of Fremantle, and Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis of West Coast. Pavlich has won the medal three times, the only player to do so.[4]
List of winners
- Votes tallies prior to 2002 are unknown.
| Year | Name | Club | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Adrian Fletcher | Fremantle | – |
| 2000 | Troy Cook Paul Hasleby | Fremantle Fremantle | – |
| 2001 | Ben Cousins | West Coast | – |
| 2002 | Matthew Pavlich | Fremantle | 22 |
| 2003 | Peter Bell | Fremantle | 28 |
| 2004 | Paul Hasleby (2) | Fremantle | 27 |
| 2005 | Matthew Pavlich (2) | Fremantle | 26 |
| 2006 | Chris Judd | West Coast | 18 |
| 2007 | Daniel Kerr | West Coast | 26 |
| 2008 | Matthew Pavlich (3) | Fremantle | 29 |
| 2009 | Aaron Sandilands | Fremantle | 25 |
| 2010 | Beau Waters | West Coast | 19 |
| 2011 | Matt Priddis | West Coast | 28 |
| 2012 | Daniel Kerr (2) | West Coast | 24 |
| 2013 | Nat Fyfe | Fremantle | 31 |
| 2014 | Matt Priddis (2) | West Coast | 38 |
| 2015 | Nat Fyfe (2) | Fremantle | 33 |
| 2016 | Lachie Neale | Fremantle | 38 |
References
- ↑ Wheeldon, Clint (2011). West Coast Eagle's [sic] Matt Priddis wins Christian medal – 720 ABC Perth. Published 5 September 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ↑ Christian Medal 2007 – 720 ABC Perth. Published 26 October 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ↑ Bryans, Aaron. "Fremantle Dockers midfielder Lachie Neale wins Geoff Christian Medal after record-breaking year". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ↑ Trophies and medals – Footystats. Retrieved 22 June 2012.