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 |
| 2025 | Manny Sandow | Merrivale | 33 |