Ellie Blackburn has won her sixth Western Bulldogs AFLW Best and Fairest award, further cementing her legacy in the red, white and blue.
Blackburn polled 97 votes in the thrilling count, which saw five lead changes throughout the night at Crown Aviary.
She has now won six of the last seven Club Best and Fairests.
Just three votes separated five players after the first three rounds, with the vice-captain trailing by 18 votes.
A string of consistent outings propelled her onto the podium by the end of Round 6 however, only second to defender Britney Gutknecht by 10 votes.
Blackburn then took the lead ahead of Isabelle Pritchard after nine rounds – who would only play one more game for the season – holding enough of a buffer to secure first place.
The vice-captain produced a vintage performance in Round 7 with 25 disposals, four goals and four tackles against Collingwood.
She averaged 17.9 disposals, 3.2 tackles and 2.6 clearances for the year.
Rylie Wilcox’s strong end to the year saw her named runner up with 72 votes, while Pritchard held onto a third-place finish with 69 votes.
Wilcox also took home the Most Courageous Player award, while Gutknecht was named the Most Improved Player.
Issy Grant was awarded the Players’ Player, Emma McDonald was voted the Best Young Player and Lauren Ahrens was voted the Coaches’ Award.
Grant and Heidi Woodley couldn’t be split for the Trainers’ Award, while Analea McKee and Deanna Berry won the VU Education Award and Community Award respectively.
Club Best and Fairest voting process: at the conclusion of each match, the coaching panel individually awarded 5-4-3-2-1 votes. The maximum votes that a player can achieve in a single game is 20.
Top 5 – 2025 AFLW Western Bulldogs Best and Fairest
- Ellie Blackburn (97 votes)
- Rylie Wilcox (72)
- Isabelle Pritchard (69)
- Alice Edmonds (66)
- Brit Gutknecht (57)
Other award winners
Trainers’ Award – Heidi Woodley & Isabella Grant
Club Community Award – Deanna Berry
Best Young Player – Emma McDonald
Coaches’ Award – Lauren Ahrens
VU Education Award – Analea McKee
Most Improved Player – Britney Gutknecht
Most Courageous Player – Rylie Wilcox
Players’ Player Award – Isabella Grant
