Coleman Medal
The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most prolific goalkickers in the league's history, who was league leading goalkicker for five consecutive seasons.[1]
 Charlie Curnow, 2022 and 2023 recipient | |
| League | Australian Football League |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Most goals in the home-and-away season |
| History | |
| Most wins | Dick Lee (7) |
| Most recent | Charlie Curnow (2) |
The medal has been presented at various different events, including the preliminary[2] and grand finals,[3] the All-Australian awards ceremony,[4][5] and club award ceremonies.[6] Carlton's Charlie Curnow is the most recent recipient, kicking 78 goals in 2023.[7]
History
The award was first presented in 1981 to Richmond's Michael Roach;[8] At the time, the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL); it would become the AFL in 1990.[9] It was named after John Coleman, a full-forward and Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend who scored 537 goals in 98 games for Essendon between 1949 and 1954.[1]
In September 2001, the AFL decided to recognise all leading goalkickers prior to Roach's victory;[10] leaders from 1955—the year after Coleman's last match—to 1980 were named retrospective Coleman Medallists, while winners prior to 1955 were named Leading Goalkicker Medallists.[8] Medals were presented to winners or their surviving relatives in a ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall in July 2004.[8][11] Jack Collins, who had been a leading advocate for naming the award after Coleman[12] and honouring leading goalkickers prior to 1981,[13] was the only player to receive both a Coleman and a Leading Goalkicker Medal.[14] Upon receiving the accolades, he was "bloody angry" and complained to the AFL Commission, as he perceived the Leading Goalkicker Medal to be an inferior award.[15]
Collingwood is the club most frequently represented by Coleman and Leading Goalkicker Medallists: its players have won on 23 occasions, six clear of Geelong's tally of 17. The majority of Collingwood's awards were contributed by Dick Lee (7) and Gordon Coventry (6), which stand as the most and second-most in league history. Coleman himself won the Leading Goalkicker Medals in all five of his complete VFL seasons to have the third-most. As of 2023, there have been five four-time medallists, five three-time medallists, and 16 dual medallists.
Recipients
| Note: Bold text denotes player currently plays in the AFL |
Multiple recipients
Club totals
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| † | Club no longer participates in the AFL[lower-alpha 2] |
|---|---|
| LG | Number of Leading Goalkicker Medals (1897–1954) |
| C'man | Number of Coleman Medals (1955–present) |
See also
- AFL Women's leading goalkicker
- Ken Farmer Medal – equivalent award in the South Australian National Football League
- Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal – equivalent award in the Victorian Football League
- Bernie Naylor Medal – equivalent award in the West Australian Football League
Notes
- The following websites are used as sources for recipients:
- AFL.com.au[1]
- AFL Tables[7]
- 1910: AFL.com.au notes Dick Lee as joint leading goalkicker. AFL Tables omits Lee, supported by the 2018 Grand Final edition of the AFL Record.[17]
- 1977: AFL.com.au gives Hudson's goal total as 105. AFL Tables records 99, supported by the 2015 Grand Final edition of the AFL Record.[18]
- 2004: AFL.com.au gives Gehrig's goal total as 103. AFL Tables records 90, supported by ABC News.[19]
- Three teams which have participated in the VFL/AFL no longer compete today. Fitzroy, a founding member of the league, played from 1897 to 1996 before its severe financial problems forced a merger with the Brisbane Bears, an expansion club that had competed in the VFL from 1987, to form the Brisbane Lions. University, an amateur club, played in the VFL from 1908 to 1914.[9]
- Known as South Melbourne prior to 1982 relocation.[9]
- Known as Footscray prior to 1997.[9]
References
- "Coleman Medal". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- "Quinlan's goals award". The Canberra Times. John Fairfax and Sons. 18 September 1983. Retrieved 31 January 2020 – via Trove.
- "PM backs VFL: Government to be ignored". The Canberra Times. John Fairfax and Sons. 26 September 1982. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2020 – via Trove.
- "Brown's All Australian honours". lions.com.au. Telstra Media. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "AFL finals: Leigh Matthews to present Jock McHale medal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- Skilton Medal: Coleman presentation (Video). Telstra Media. 6 October 2017. Event occurs at 0.58. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "Leading Goalkicker". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- McClure, Geoff (12 August 2002). "Sporting Life – Call for the champs". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "Chronology". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- Gould, Russell (14 September 2001). "Old champs in from the cold". Herald Sun. News Limited. p. 116 – via EBSCO.
THE AFL is set to reward more than 90 past champions with retrospective medals for leading the goalkicking ...
- Oakes, Dan (27 July 2004). "A night of tribute to the rich history of the game". The Age. Fairfax Media. p. 12 – via EBSCO.
[P]ast ... AFL players ... gathered at Melbourne Town Hall last night ... [t]he occasion was the retrospective presentation of medals ... to the ... leading goalkickers ... since the start of the VFL/AFL.
- Dowsley, Anthony (29 March 2010). "Auction of Western Bulldogs star Jack Collins' medals causes family feud". Herald Sun. News Limited. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- Palmer, Scot (27 May 2001). "Medals for goal greats". The Sunday Mail. News Limited. p. 118 – via EBSCO.
Former Footscray champion Jack Collins ... supports the move.
- Hobbs, Greg (30 July 2004). Lovett, Michael (ed.). "Jack of all trades". AFL Record. Vol. 93, no. 18. Melbourne: Australian Football League. p. 70. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020 – via State Library of Victoria.
- Palmer, Scot (16 September 2001). "Dogs star's pain". Herald Sun. News Limited. p. 50 – via EBSCO.
[Collins] has ... written a ... complaint to the AFL Commission ... Jack will receive what he feels is an inferior ... medal.
- "Coaches: John Longmire". sydneyswans.com.au. Telstra Media. 22 November 2019. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- Lovett, Michael, ed. (29 September 2018). "Collingwood – Leading Goalkicker Medallists". AFL Record. Vol. 107. Melbourne: Crocmedia. p. 129.
- Lovett, Michael, ed. (3 October 2015). "Hawthorn – John Coleman Medallists". AFL Record. Vol. 104. Melbourne: AFL Media. p. 120.
- "Gehrig clinches Coleman medal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 August 2004. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.