THE annual John Cahill Medal will be presented to Port Adelaide’s best and fairest player for season 2021 at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday 30 September.
The award is named in honour of John Cahill, a man who won 14 premierships with the club as player and coach and four best and fairest award in his own right.
While there are also a host of SANFL awards including the A.R. McLean Medal for the club’s best performed player in that competition, there are several other AFL merits presented to those who are deemed to have excelled.
Here is your guide to the AFL awards being presented on the night.
Click here for your SANFL awards guide.
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. Following the completion of each game, the panel of Senior Coach Ken Hinkley, Senior Assistant Michael Voss, each player’s respective line coach and General Manager – Football Chris Davies cast their votes. Each player’s performance is rated between 0-5, with a maximum of 20 and minimum of zero votes awarded per player, per game.
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
2018 Justin Westhoff
2019 Travis Boak
2020 Darcy Byrne-Jones
Fos Williams Medal
Named after: Foster Williams – Port Adelaide’s legendary 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 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
2018 Tom Jonas
2019 Travis Boak
2020 Travis Boak
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
2018 Dan Houston
2019 Darcy Byrne-Jones
2020 Trent McKenzie
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
2018 Dan Houston
2019 Connor Rozee
2020 Zak Butters
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
2017 Jack Hombsch
2018 Justin Westhoff
2019 Travis Boak
2020 Justin Westhoff
