Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos has been voted by his peers as their 2025 AFL Players’ Most Valuable Player, rounding out an incredible fourth season in the competition.
The youngest winner since Nick Riewoldt in 2004 and the fourth-youngest in the coveted award’s history, Daicos receives the Leigh Matthews Trophy after placing fourth last year and second in 2023. He previously won the Best First-Year Player Award in 2022.
The midfielder, who is fresh from being named in the AFL Players’ 22Under22 team for the fourth time, is the first Collingwood AFL player to receive the MVP title since Dane Swan in 2010.
Daicos averaged 30 disposals across his 23 matches this home and away season, leading the competition. He heads into finals with 16 goals while ranking in the top six players for inside 50s, clearances, and score assists.
The 22 year-old was presented with the Leigh Matthews Trophy at the industry-wide AFL Awards on Thursday night, edging out Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson and St Kilda young gun Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who placed second and third, respectively.
Daicos spoke to the outstanding achievement.
“It’s a huge honour to be voted this year’s MVP,” he said.
“There are so many impressive footballers in the game at the moment, people who I get to play both with and against, and the list of previous winners is quite an overwhelming group to join.
“I’m very grateful for what I get to do each week, and to be recognised by my fellow players.”
Alongside his runner-up placing in the MVP Award, Dawson was also voted Best Captain, presented by Chartered Accountants, ahead of three-time MVP and Best Captain winner, Marcus Bontempelli, with Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson rounding out the top three in his first year in the leadership role. Dawson becomes the third Crow to receive the Best Captain title from his peers after Mark Ricciuto (2005 and 2006) and Taylor Walker (2016 and 2017).
Brisbane Lion Josh Dunkley took home the Robert Rose Most Courageous Player Award, presented by Tackle Your Feelings. He was voted by the playing group ahead of two-time Most Courageous recipient, Zak Butters, and Geelong’s Tom Atkins. Dunkley joins club legends Michael Voss (2001) and Jonathan Brown (2007, 2008, and 2011) as Most Courageous recipients.
Following a standout debut season for Fremantle, Murphy Reid took out Best First-Year Player, presented by P3 Recovery, ahead of Levi Ashcroft and Harvey Langford. Reid becomes the fifth Docker to be crowned the award, following Paul Haselby (2000), Rhys Palmer (2008), Michael Barlow (2010) and Caleb Serong (2020).
Earlier, Gold Coast Sun Brayden Fiorini and Sydney Swan Brodie Grundy were selected as joint winners of this year’s Education and Training Excellence Award, presented by Torrens University Australia. The pair share the honour of being recognised for their respective commitment to their studies and development away from the field.
AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich was presented with the Grant Hattam Award for Outstanding Journalism from the Players’ Perspective, for his extensive piece covering Tom Liberatore’s volunteer work within the community.
WINNERS
Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player
- Nick Daicos
- Jordan Dawson
- Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
- Marcus Bontempelli
- Jeremy Cameron
Best Captain, presented by Chartered Accountants
- Jordan Dawson
- Marcus Bontempelli
- Noah Anderson
- Toby Greene
- Harris Andrews
Best First-Year Player Award, presented by P3 Recovery
- Murphy Reid
- Levi Ashcroft
- Harvey Langford
- Alix Tauru
- Finn O’Sullivan and Sam Davidson
Robert Rose Most Courageous Award, presented by Tackle Your Feelings
- Josh Dunkley
- Zak Butters
- Tom Atkins
- Tom Liberatore
- Nick Vlastuin
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AFLPA MVP PAST WINNERS
MVP Voting Process
MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player selecting the three teammates they consider to have been the most valuable this season. Each club’s results 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. Those 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.
A similar process is followed for the Best First-Year and Most Courageous awards, and every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.