Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli has taken out this year’s coveted Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL Players’ Association’s Most Valuable Player for 2021.
Bontempelli was the runaway winner, receiving 1176 votes, ahead of Carlton’s Sam Walsh (426 votes) and Gold Coast’s Touk Miller (411).
The MVP Award is voted on by the players themselves, and is held in extremely high esteem as an individual award each year.
Bontempelli also completed a rare double, also claiming the Best Captain award, with his 224 votes well ahead of Melbourne’s Max Gawn (87 votes) and St Kilda’s Jack Steele (83).
The 25-year-old joins Michael Voss (2002 and 2003) and Chris Judd (2011) as the only players to win the MVP and Best Captain awards in the same season.
He became the second Western Bulldogs player to win the prestigious Leigh Matthews Trophy since its inception in 1982, and the first since Luke Darcy tied with Michael Voss in 2002.
Bontempelli said he was humbled to win the MVP Award, which he accepted while in the Bulldogs’ quarantine hub in Launceston on Thursday evening.
“It’s an honour, especially when I consider some of the football that’s been played by other footballers around the competition,” he said.
“It’s very humbling to be seen this way by the competition, and by my peers. It’s also an honour to be in the company of previous winners who’ve also had some special seasons.
“I couldn’t really do it without the football club, and without my team-mates, who make the game and being a football player as enjoyable as it is.”
In other awards, Bulldogs’ AFLW defender Ellyse Gamble was one of three recipients of the AFLPA Education and Training Excellence Award, while Sydney’s Errol Gulden took out the Best First Year Player and Steele won the Most Courageous Award.
Leigh Matthews Trophy for the Most Valuable Player, presented by Snaffle
Marcus Bontempelli – 1176
Sam Walsh – 426
Touk Miller – 411
Christian Petracca – 338
Jack Steele – 261
Best Captain, presented by The Diamond Guys
Marcus Bontempelli – 224
Max Gawn – 87
Jack Steele - 83
Joel Selwood – 60
Scott Pendlebury – 36
Robert Rose Most Courageous Award, presented by Our Watch
Jack Steele – 186
Tom Doedee – 118
Liam Baker – 61
Liam Jones – 55
Tom Jonas – 40
Best First Year Player Award, presented by Snaffle
Errol Gulden – 299
Nikolas Cox – 139
Riley Thilthorpe – 56
Tom Powell – 27
Tom Highmore – 26
MVP Voting Process
MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three team-mates 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 Best First Year Player and Most Courageous Player, but every captain is automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.
