Football Best & Fairest Seniors
The award was first named the G. J. Coles Cup, then the W. Freeland Trophybefore its present title of J. A. Esam Medal in 1982.
1946 | J. Maguire | South Juniors | |
1947 | Paddy O’Keefe | East Stars | |
Stuart Isles | West End | ||
Dudley Maslin | Merrivale | ||
Bill Maguire | South Rovers | ||
1948 | Kevin O’Keefe | East Stars | 17 |
1949 | Jack Hawthorne | South Rovers | 32 |
1950 | Kevin O’Keefe | East Stars | 21 |
1951 | John Devlin | South Rovers | 22 |
1952 | Kevin Bren | Russells Creek | 21 |
1953 | Kevin Bren | Russells Creek | 19 |
1954 | Gavin Gleeson | Merivale | 14 |
Neil Johnstone | Dennington | 14 | |
1955 | Jim Fitzgerald | South Rovers | 14 |
1956 | Lionel Lovett | Dennington | 23 |
1957 | Neville Anders | Tower Hill | 33 |
1958 | Anthony Ryan | Old Collegians | 20 |
1959 | Jim Bushell | Tower Hill | 21 |
1960 | Peter Madden | Tower Hill | 14 |
John Carmody | Merrivale | 14 | |
1961 | Brian Primmer | Russells Creek | 17 |
Robert Edwards | Bushfield | 17 | |
1962 | Brian Primmer | Russells Creek | 16 |
Les Hawkins | Old Collegians | 16 | |
Noel Lawson | South Rovers | 16 | |
1963 | Norm McCullagh | South Rovers | 25 |
1964 | Gerry Lane | Tower Hill | 27 |
1965 | Norm McCullagh | South Rovers | 24 |
1966 | Ron Reed | Dennington | 26 |
1967 | Peter Lake | West End | 23 |
1968 | Basil Ryan | Grassmere | 19 |
William Dwyer | Tower Hill | 19 | |
1969 | Noel Thornton | Dennington | 20 |
1970 | Barry Sullivan | South Rovers | 25 |
1971 | Norm Thwaites | West End-Allansford | 22 |
1972 | Pat Gleeson | Grassmere | 20 |
1973 | Glendon Henry | West End-Allansford) | 18 |
1974 | Brendan Moloney | Tower Hill | 26 |
1975 | Jeff Griffiths | East Warrnambool | 27 |
1976 | Michael Hamblin | Merrivale | 21 |
1977 | Brendan Moloney | Tower Hill | 24 |
1978 | Frank King | Tower Hill | 25 |
1979 | Michael Hamblin | Merrivale | 23 |
1980 | Terry Carr | West End-Allansford | 29 |
1981 | Gary McLeod | Grassmere | 22 |
J. A. Esam Medal | |||
1982 | Wayne Cox | Dennington | 33 |
1983 | Wayne Cox | Dennington | 23 |
1984 | Wayne Cox | Dennington | 30 |
1985 | Wayne Cox | Dennington | 18 |
1986 | Peter Doolan | Old Collegians | 22 |
1987 | Iain Jackson | Russells Creek | 15 |
Don Steel | West End-Allansford | 15 | |
Jamie Darmody | Northern Districts | 15 | |
1988 | John Lyons | East Warrnmabool | 28 |
1989 | Robert Mifsud | Old Collegians | 22 |
1990 | Murray Turner | Dennington | 27 |
1991 | David Cassidy | Merrivale | 26 |
1992 | Gary Rowbottom | West End-Allansford | 26 |
1993 | Ken Wines | Northern Districts | 20 |
1994 | Dean Picken | South Rovers | 19 |
Jason Porter | Merrivale | 19 | |
1995 | Simon Cross | East Warrnambool | 28 |
1996 | Dean Picken | South Rovers | 25 |
1997 | Leo Duynhoven | Old Collegians | 21 |
1998 | Jamie Neave | Merrivale | 21 |
1999 | Jodie Bailie | Russells Creek | 24 |
2000 | Peter Hobbs | Panmure | 25 |
2001 | Jamie Squires | Dennington | 23 |
2002 | Brad Sheen | Allansford | 20 |
2003 | Chris Morrison | Deakin University | 23 |
2004 | Matt Scoble | East Warrnambool | 22 |
2005 | Troy Richardson | Old Collegians | 22 |
2006 | Klint Wagstaff | Timboon Demons | 26 |
2007 | Matthew Steel | Allansford | 37 |
2008 | Matthew Steel | Allansford | 30 |
2009 | Luke Madden | Kolora-Noorat | 32 |
2010 | Jye Bidmade | Panmure | 35 |
2011 | Bradley Johnson | Kolora-Noorat | 24 |
2012 | Corey Rounds | Kolora-Noorat | 31 |
Nicholas Johnstone | Allansford | 31 | |
2013 | Brad McCosh | South Rovers | 25 |
2014 | Nicholas Johnstone | Allansford | 22 |
2015 | Josh Sobey | Merrivale | 19 |
2016 | Joseph Conheady | Kolora-Noorat | 22 |
2017 | Scott Lenehan | Old Collegians | 25 |
2018 | Andrew McMeel | Russells Creek | 25 |
2019 | Andrew McMeel | Russells Creek | 19 |
2020 | No games played due to | Covid-19 | |
2021 | Scott Carlin | Nirranda | 24 |
2022 | Blair McCutcheon | Merrivale | 22 |
2023 | John Paulin | Nirranda | 30 |
2024 | Logan McLeod | Russells Creek | 19 |