MELBOURNE women’s skipper Daisy Pearce has been named the 2017 AFLW players’ best captain and her teammate Karen Paxman has finished second in the AFLW players’ most valuable player award.
Pearce, who is an AFLPA board member, claimed 63 votes to win the award. She claimed it in front of Adelaide’s Erin Phillips (30 votes) and Brisbane’s Emma Zielke (27).
Paxman finished runner-up with 149 votes, ahead of Phillips, who won the AFLW players’ most valuable player award.
Adelaide’s Chelsea Randall claimed the AFLW players’ most courageous award.
AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh paid tribute to all three winners and described the presentation of an AFLW MVP as a “historic moment”.
“Congratulations to Erin, Chelsea and Daisy for their performances throughout the season and earning the recognition of the wider playing group as such worthy winners of these awards,” he said.
“Erin’s ability to have such an impact on the competition off the back of her basketball commitments is testament to her incredible skill, athleticism and toughness.
“Chelsea is the ultimate professional and a big reason why the Crows are premiers, while Daisy’s leadership qualities were obvious long before the AFLW competition arrived.”
Consistent with the process to crown the male MVP, known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFLPA’s female members voted to decide the player worthiest of the AFLW Players’ MVP Award (details below).
The AFL Players’ Association is the representative body for male and female AFL footballers as well as more than 3000 past players.
Winners and top polling players
AFLW Players’ MVP, proudly presented by The Line
Erin Phillips – Adelaide Crows (204)
Karen Paxman – Melbourne (149)
Darcy Vescio – Carlton (132)
Most Courageous, proudly presented by Bob Jane T-Marts
Chelsea Randall – Adelaide Crows (80)
Brianna Davey – Carlton (57)
Jessica Dal Pos – GWS Giants (22)
Best Captain, proudly presented by KPMG
Daisy Pearce – Melbourne (63)
Erin Phillips – Adelaide Crows (30)
Emma Zielke – Brisbane Lions (27)
MVP Voting Process
MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three teammates they consider to have been the most valuable this season. Each club’s votes are then tallied to form a nomination list comprising 54 players across the 18 teams.
In the second round of voting, all players vote for their MVP on a 3, 2, 1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs. The votes are tallied and the player with the highest score wins the honour of MVP. Players cannot vote for their own teammates in stage two of the process.
A similar process is followed for Most Courageous, but every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.
