We’re looking back at the year that was with our top six pieces of content across 2020.
#22under22
For the first time we ran the #22Under22 campaign for the AFLW competition, celebrating the best female talent under the age of 22. Collingwood’s Chloe Molloy was named captain, while League B&F and Carlton rising star Madison Prespakis was named as vice captain. The men’s #22Under22 team returned for the seventh time with a record-breaking year and more than 17,000 sides selected. Named for the fourth time in his career, Essendon’s Andrew McGrath was bestowed with the captaincy duties while Carlton’s Jacob Weitering was named as his deputy.
Crowning the fans’ favourite mvp
The prestige of the AFL Players’ Association’s Most Valuable Player Award, better known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, is underlined by the fact the players are voting for and then recognised by their peers. This year, we gave fans the unique opportunity to select their favourite AFLPA MVP winner of all time.
With Leigh Matthews’ legacy unquestioned as the ultimate AFL Players’ MVP, Leigh was separated from the rest of the pack, with Collingwood’s Dane Swan named the fans’ favourite.
musical pairs
For the first time we celebrated the musical talents of our male and female members with the Musical Pairs competition. Port Adelaide Football Club’s Steven Motlop was deemed the fans’ favourite ahead of the Carlton Football Club’s Liam Jones.
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“This kid with the long, blonde mullet’ is going to be something.”
“It became the moment that people started noticing him and thinking, ‘yeah, this kid with the long, blonde mullet’ is going to be something.”
Read the story of how Western Bulldogs young gun and cult figure Bailey Smith flew onto the radar of club recruiters while playing for the Sandy Dragons in the NAB League (formerly TAC Cup).
Our mate Tucky
Following the tragic passing of Shane Tuck in July this year, former teammates penned heartfelt and hilarious tributes as they remembered their great mate. Read the short stories from former Richmond players Nathan Foley, Dan Jackson, Brett Deledio, Ty Vickery, Jake King and Andrew Collins here.
Indigenous Map
Despite Sir Doug Nicholls Round this year looking different to normal, we were proud to still recognise and celebrate the cultural diversity of the AFL’s Indigenous players with the league’s 87 male players and 22 female players represented across 71 cultural and language groups on the annual Indigenous Map. You can view the 2020 Indigenous Map here.