The Brownlow Medal, the Coleman Medal, the Rising Star, the Norm Smith, and the All-Australian team. How the game's most prestigious individual honours are decided.
The Brownlow is football's most prestigious individual award. The Coleman rewards the league's leading goalkicker. The Rising Star recognises the best young player. Each award has its own eligibility rules, voting system, and place in the AFL calendar.
The Brownlow Medal is awarded to the fairest and best player in the AFL home-and-away season. It is the most coveted individual honour in Australian football, named after Charles Brownlow, a former Geelong administrator.
After every home-and-away match, the three field umpires independently cast votes: 3 votes to the best player on the ground, 2 votes to the second-best, and 1 vote to the third-best. Votes are sealed and not revealed until Brownlow Night — the count ceremony held on the Monday before the Grand Final.
A player who has been suspended during the season (for any duration) or found guilty of a reportable offence by the tribunal is ineligible for the Brownlow Medal. This "fairest" criterion is integral to the award's identity — it rewards not just performance but conduct. Under the 2026 Laws, a player reported under Law 22 and sanctioned under Law 22.4 loses their Brownlow eligibility for that season.
If two or more players finish on the same number of votes, the Brownlow Medal is shared. This has happened several times in AFL history — most famously in 2003 (Nathan Buckley, Mark Ricciuto, Adam Goodes) and 2012 (Jobe Watson, later stripped; Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin subsequently awarded joint medals).
The Coleman Medal is awarded to the leading goalkicker in the AFL home-and-away season. Named after John Coleman — Essendon's legendary full-forward who kicked 537 goals in just 98 games — the medal recognises the player who kicks the most goals across the regular season.
Only goals count — behinds are irrelevant to the tally. Under Law 16, a goal must be kicked (not handballed or carried) between the goal posts without being touched. The Coleman Medal race is tracked week by week, and the winner is confirmed after the final round of the home-and-away season.
The AFL Rising Star recognises the best young player in the competition. To be eligible, a player must be under 21 years of age as of 1 January in the relevant season, and must not have played more than 10 AFL matches before that season.
A panel of judges selects a Rising Star nominee after each round of the home-and-away season. At the end of the year, the overall Rising Star winner is selected from the pool of nominees by a panel vote. Past winners include Gary Ablett Jr (2002), Dustin Martin (2010), and Sam Walsh (2019).
The Norm Smith Medal is awarded to the best player in the AFL Grand Final. Named after Melbourne's legendary coach, it is voted on by a panel of football experts during the Grand Final itself.
Unlike the Brownlow, the Norm Smith Medal is judged on a single match, and there is no fairest-and-best criterion — a reported player may still win (though this is extremely rare). The voting panel casts their ballots progressively throughout the game, and the winner is announced in the immediate aftermath of the match.
The All-Australian team is a 22-player squad selected at the end of each home-and-away season, recognising the best player in each position across the competition. A panel of selectors picks the team in a positional format (full-back line, half-back line, centre line, half-forward line, full-forward line, followers, and interchange).
Being named All-Australian is one of the highest honours in the game. Players who achieve multiple All-Australian selections are regarded as among the elite of their era. The team is announced at the All-Australian dinner, typically held in the week before the Grand Final.
The Mark of the Year and Goal of the Year are fan-voted awards that celebrate the most spectacular individual moments of the season. The Mark of the Year recognises the best aerial mark — under Law 15, a mark requires the ball to travel at least 15 metres from a kick and be caught cleanly without touching another player or the ground. The most celebrated marks involve a player leaping over opponents, climbing on shoulders, or taking high grabs under extreme pressure.
Goal of the Year celebrates the best goal of the season — whether it's a long-range torpedo, a snap from the boundary, a dribble kick from an impossible angle, or a goal on the run through traffic. Both awards are voted on by fans through the AFL's digital platforms.