THE who's who of Port Adelaide will pour into the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday October 5 to crown its best and fairest players for the 2018 season, with the John Cahill Medal and A.R. McLean Medal being presented to the top Power and Magpies players. 

Along with the club champion awards, a range of other merits are presented to those who are deemed to have excelled in each individual field. 

Many of the awards are named after significant clubmen too, so get up to speed with portadelaidefc.com.au's guide to the gongs. In part 1 we will look at the AFL awards.   

John Cahill Medal

Named after: John Cahill – Port Adelaide’s first AFL coach and a man who coached and played in 14 SANFL premierships with the club between his debut in 1958 and the club’s step into the national competition in 1996.

Awarded to: the best performing Port Adelaide AFL player. All Port Adelaide coaches, including Ken Hinkley, Matthew Nicks, Michael Voss, Nathan Bassett and Brendon Lade – voted on their top players on a 0-5 basis for each game. This means a player can be awarded a maximum of 25 and a minimum of zero votes for a match.

Previous Winners: 

1997 Darren Mead

1998 Adam Kingsley

1999 Stephen Paxman

2000 Brett Montgomery

2001 Matthew Primus

2002 Warren Tredrea

2003 Gavin Wanganeen

2004 Warren Tredrea

2005 Warren Tredrea

2006 Brendon Lade

2007 Kane Cornes

2008 Kane Cornes

2009 Warren Tredrea

2010 Kane Cornes

2011 Travis Boak and Jackson Trengove

2012 Kane Cornes

2013 Chad Wingard

2014 Robbie Gray

2015 Robbie Gray

2016 Robbie Gray

2017 Paddy Ryder 

Fos Williams Medal

Named after: Foster Williams – Port Adelaide’s defining coach, who first joined the club for the 1950 season and would build a remarkable golden age of the club in the SANFL. Under his watch, the club won nine flags and he is widely credited with establishing the perpetual values of the club, penning the famous ‘Creed of the Port Adelaide Football Club’ and coining its eternal mantra ‘We Exist to Win Premierships’

Awarded to: the club’s best team man as voted by the players. All of the club’s players vote for three teammates on a 3-2-1 basis who best represent the team’s values throughout the season – both on and off the field.

Previous Winners: 

1997 Brayden Lyle

1998 Brayden Lyle

1999 Josh Francou

2000 Matthew Primus

2001 Matthew Primus

2002 Josh Carr

2003 Josh Carr

2004 Michael Wilson

2005 Darryl Wakelin

2006 Brendon Lade

2007 Troy Chaplin

2008 Dom Cassisi

2009 Dom Cassisi

2010 Dom Cassisi

2011 Dom Cassisi

2012 Brad Ebert

2013 Travis Boak

2014 Travis Boak

2015 Travis Boak

2016 Jasper Pittard

2017 Tom Jonas 

Coaches' Award

Awarded to: the player who is deemed to be the most improved by the coaches.

Previous Winners: (As Most improved)

1998 Warren Tredrea

1999 Warren Tredrea

2000 Roger James

2001 Josh Carr

2002 Chad Cornes

2003 Dean Brogan

2004 Kane Cornes

2005 Dom Cassisi

2006 Shaun Burgoyne

2007 David Rodan

2008 Travis Boak

2009 Robbie Gray

2010 Paul Stewart

(As coaches award)

2011 Tom Logan

2012 Tom Jonas

2013 Justin Westhoff

2014 Matthew Lobbe

2015 Brendon Ah Chee

2016 Jasper Pittard

2017 Sam Gray 

Gavin Wanganeen Medal

Named after: Gavin Wanganeen – one of Port Adelaide’s youngest ever debutants in the SANFL, and certainly one of its youngest premiership players (in 1990), Wanganeen was drafted to Essendon where he played in the Dons’ 1993 flag and won the Brownlow Medal. He returned home to Port Adelaide for its first AFL season as captain in 1997, and was a John Cahill Medallist (2003) and premiership player (2004).

Awarded to: the best performing Port Adelaide AFL player under the age of 21 years.

Previous Winners:

2006 Danyle Pearce

2007 Justin Westhoff

2008 Alipate Carlile

2009 Travis Boak

2010 Jackson Trengove

2011 Hamish Hartlett

2012 Chad Wingard

2013 Ollie Wines

2014 Ollie Wines

2015 Ollie Wines

2016 Jarman Impey

2017 Sam Powell-Pepper 

John McCarthy Award

Named after: John McCarthy – played during the 2012 season with the Power but passed away following an accident on an end-of-season trip in Las Vegas, USA.

In commemoration of: John McCarthy’s community work in the year he was with the club, Port Adelaide started this award to recognise a player who made an outstanding contribution to the community, external of the club’s existing programs, during the year.

Previous Winners: 

2013 Jack Hombsch

2014 Brad Ebert

2015 Nathan Krakouer

2016 Jack Hombsch

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