AFL Awards: All the winners and news from the AFL Awards night
Toby Greene is skipper, no sign of Dusty and three teams missed out all together – what do you think of this year’s All Australian side? Plus the AFLPA MVP, Rising Star and more.
GWS skipper Toby Greene has capped off his side’s rapid rise in 2023, being named the All Australian captain in the 2023 season.
Greene was named in the forward line after a standout season, with his deputy being AFLPA MVP Marcus Bontempelli who was named in the centre of the team’s midfield.
15 of the 18 teams were represented in this year’s team, with Richmond, Gold Coast and West Coast not having a player selected.
The Power and Pies each had three players selected, while the Bulldogs, Saints, and Crows had two players chosen.
Greene booted 60 goals in a remarkable effort for a smaller forward and led the Giants back to the finals in Adam Kingsley’s first season as coach.
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Top Dog: Bont reigns as game’s best once again
Superstar Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli expects a brutally honest review to put his team back on track after missing finals as he joins a prestigious club of multiple-time Leigh Matthews Trophy winners.
Bontempelli was voted as the player’s player in the AFLPA MVP awards on Wednesday night with the 2021 winner joining Greg Williams, Wayne Carey, Michael Voss, Chris Judd and Nat Fyfe as two-time winners, while Gary Ablett Jr won the award five times.
The graceful midfield dynamo was on the money when he said he voted for second-placed Collingwood wunderkind Nick Daicos and third-placed Port Adelaide sensation Zak Butters for the award, with Daicos, with Toby Greene and Christian Petracca rounding out the top five.
The Dogs skipper was also voted the league’s best captain, again winning the award for a second time after claiming it in 2021.
North Melbourne ace Harry Sheezel beat out Will Ashcroft for best first-year player and Butters claimed the Robert Rose Award as the game’s most courageous player.
While Bontempelli said he was able to compartmentalise and separate a strong individual season from a disappointing team effort after his Dogs failed to make finals.
The Dogs have backed coach Luke Beveridge to remain but are facing the blowtorch internally as they review the failed season forensically, a plan Bontempelli wholeheartedly endorsed.
“You quickly realise the disappointment can help to some extent but the opportunity around what we can do better is exciting, I think,” he said.
“Being open and honest about the things we didn’t do well enough across the course of the year … you basically have to go through an honest approach on where things fell short this year and some aspects they fell well short of what we wanted and what we expected and just be honest on what the plan is to go and fix it.
“That is my mentality, there is a lot of good stuff here that can improve.”
The top Dog said he played more inside this season than in the past and he set career highs in disposals (27.7 a game), tackles (7.5) and clearances (7.6).
Coaching from his uncles as a junior embedded a team first mentality with Bontempelli, who then worked on a mindset of helping the team while improving as a player with former Bulldogs assistant coach and Geelong midfield great Joel Corey.
“I have always tied my own personal game and growth to align with the team values and principles, that is how I was taught and raised from a young age,” he said.
“Having been coaches from a young age by my uncles and different family members, there was no standing out amongst the team, it was always what you could contribute.
“I think you can still identify the parts of your game that are still valuable and that is where your motivation week-to-week can be a bit split: how can I individually change and influence this game in the best possible way for this team and still walk away from many games feeling like I have contributed enough?”
NORTH YOUNG GUN CLAIMS RISING STAR
North Melbourne ball magnet Harry Sheezel has capped off an exceptional first season by claiming the AFL Rising Star award.
The highly-touted Roo won more disposals (622) than any other player in a debut season, with the 18-year-old pipping Brisbane’s Will Ashcroft for the award.
St Kilda livewire Michito Owens finished third, with Fremantle’s Jye Amiss missing out on the podium despite booting 41 goals in an outstanding season as his club missed finals.
Sheezel was dominant from the start in his first season, gathering 34 disposals on debut and topping 30 on 11 other occasions.
Ashcroft was seen as a front runner for the award before wrecking his knee in round 19, an injury that will rule out much of his 2024.
Sheezel is just the second Roo to win the rising star, after Byron Pickett claimed the award way back in 1998.
POWER STAR’S BREAKOUT YEAR VINDICATED
Tough Port Adelaide onballer Zak Butters has had his status as one of the game’s biggest stars franked by claiming the AFL Coaches Association player of the year award.
On a breakout night for the Power gun, Butters added his coaches win to a third-place finish in the AFLPA MVP, while being votes the most courageous player in the game by his fellow players.
Butters, 22, won the AFLCA gong on 109 votes, holding off Western Bulldog and AFLPA MVP winner Marcus Bontempelli (102 votes), after the pair overtook runaway leader, Magpie Nick Daicos, in the final two rounds.
Daicos finished third on 99 votes, while also winning the best young player award in a landslide, ahead of Essendon’s Nic Martin.
Butters enjoyed a phenomenal season in 2023, setting career-highs across the board as the Power managed a top-four finish.
Coaches from both sides submit votes in a 5-4-3-2-1 format after each game, with the AFLCA award seen as a recognition from opposition mentors of their most respected opposition players.
Butters and Bontempelli powered to the finish line in the count, with Butters securing 17 votes in the final fortnight and Bontempelli 16.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said he was often most taken by Butters’ ability to win the ball in the contest despite his slight frame.
“Considering his size, he is fearless with the way he attacks the ball and he’s got this amazing ability to make special things happen for our team and to influence a game like not many others can,” Hinkley said.
“I believe that being votes by the coaches as the leagues’ champion player is one of the highest honours a player can receive, and I could not be prouder (of Zak).”
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