Adelaide superstar Erin Phillips has become the first multiple winner of the AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player Award, proudly presented by Gloria Jean’s, following another outstanding AFLW season.
The 33-year-old was voted the clear winner by her peers with 143 votes, ahead of Fremantle’s Kiara Bowers (107) and Collingwood’s Ashleigh Brazill (85).
Phillips, who took out the inaugural AFLW Players’ MVP trophy in 2017 following an extensive international basketball career, was unable to attend the award the annual AFLW Players’ Awards event, which was held at The George Ballroom in St Kilda on Monday.
“It’s a truly humbling experience to be voted by your peers as the most valuable player in the league,” Phillips said.
“Individual accolades don’t sit that well with me because it’s your teammates and coaches who help you get to the level but I’m proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in my AFLW career so far.
“There’s a huge amount of talent running around in the AFLW and it’s increasing every year. The future of the competition is brighter than ever and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
The event also saw the Most Courageous, Best Captain and Best First Year Player Awards, presented by The Line, KPMG and MSC Signs respectively, crowned in front of an intimate gathering of players, media an AFLPA officials.
CLICK HERE TO READ AN EXCLUSIVE COLUMN FROM PHILLIPS’ BROTHER-IN-LAW, SHAUN BURGOYNE
For the third consecutive season, Adelaide defender Chelsea Randall took out the Most Courageous Award — she is the only AFLW winner of the award — polling 105 votes ahead of Fremantle’s Kiara Bowers (84).
Carlton skipper Brianna Davey edged out MVP winner Erin Phillips in the Best Captain Award by the smallest of margins. Davey claimed the title with 53 votes to Phillips’ 52, with Crows co-captain Chelsea Randall (45) in third place.
The players have also crowned another newcomer, with Carlton youngster Madison Prespakis taking out the Best First Year Player Award in an overwhelming result. Prespakis, pick three in last year’s draft, polled 149 votes, beating GWS youngster Alyce Parker (35) by 114 votes.
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).
Following Monday’s event, every AFLW player will be invited to the AFL Players’ MVP Awards in September where both male and female award winners will be celebrated.
At this event, an Education and Development Award will be presented to the AFLW player who has best combined their football commitments with study, work placements or career development.
WINNERS AND TOP POLLING PLAYERS
AFLW Players’ MVP, proudly presented by Gloria Jean’s
- Erin Phillips, Adelaide Crows — 143
- Kiara Bowers, Fremantle Dockers — 107
- Ashleigh Brazill, Collingwood Magpies — 85
Most Courageous, proudly presented by The Line
- Chelsea Randall, Adelaide Crows — 105
- Kiara Bowers, Fremantle Dockers — 84
- Brianna Davey, Carlton Blues — 35
Best Captain, proudly presented by KPMG
- Brianna Davey, Carlton Blues — 53
- Erin Phillips, Adelaide Crows — 52
- Chelsea Randall, Adelaide Crows — 45
Best First Year Player Award, proudly presented by MSC Signs
- Madison Prespakis, Carlton Blues — 149
- Alyce Parker, GWS Giants — 35
- Sabreena Duffy, Fremantle Dockers — 26
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, with 33 players across the 10 teams nominated for the award — due to a tie, Adelaide and North Melbourne featured an extra nominees.
In the second round of voting, all players vote for their MVP on a 3, 2, 1 basis from the nominees of the nine 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 Best First Year Player, Most Courageous, but every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.