Friday night will see the newest John Nicholls Medallist crowned at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Plenary Room.
The man behind the award
In the Club’s 150th year, John Nicholls was named as Carlton’s greatest ever player, with his record speaking for itself.
With 328 games and 307 goals, the AFL and Carlton Team of the Century member was a premiership captain in 1968 and 1970, before leading the Club to another premiership as captain-coach in 1972.
He was named as an inaugural AFL legend in 1996, before being inducted as a Carlton legend the following year.
Nicholls has five best-and-fairest awards to his name — a club record. After wins in 1959 and 1963, he followed it up with a hat-trick between 1965 and 1967.
The award was named after Nicholls in 2004, after being known as the Robert Reynolds Trophy since 1934.
The voting process
The voting process will remain the same as the one which has been implemented since the 2016 season.
Four coaches (senior coach and three line coaches) have the opportunity to vote for as many players as they feel warrant a vote for each game on the following scale:
4 votes – outstanding performance
3 votes – excellent performance
2 votes – above expectation performance
1 vote – expected performance (trademark game)
A player therefore can receive a maximum of four votes from four coaches giving a maximum of 16 possible votes each round.
The record holders
Behind Nicholls himself, Bruce Doull is next on the list with four best-and-fairest awards, from 1974 to 1984. Five others have triumphed three times — John James, Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley, Brett Ratten and Chris Judd.
Among the other Hall of Fame winners to be crowned as the best and fairest include Anthony Koutoufides, Justin Madden, Andrew McKay, Sergio and Stephen Silvagni, Geoff Southby, Greg Williams and 2018 inductees Wayne Johnston and Lance Whitnall.
Marc Murphy (2011, 2017), Kade Simpson (2013), Patrick Cripps (2015) and Sam Docherty (2016) are the four current Blues to have won a John Nicholls Medal.
The award winners
Best and fairest
1929 — Horrie Clover
Robert Reynolds Trophy
1934 — Mickey Crisp
1935 — Jim Francis
1936 — Ansell Clarke
1937 — Don McIntyre
1938 — Mickey Crisp
1939 — Frank Gill
1940 — Jim Francis
1941 — Bob Chitty
1942 — Jim Mooring
1943 — George Gniel
1944 — Bob Chitty
1945 — Ron Savage
1946 — Jack Howell
1947 — Bert Deacon* and Ern Henfry (tied)
1948 — Jack Howell
1949 — Ern Henfry
1950 — Arthur Hodgson
1951 — Jim Clark
1952 — Ollie Grieve
1953 — Ken Hands
1954 — Bill Milroy
1955 — John James
1956 — Doug Beasy
1957 — Bruce Comben
1958 — Bruce Comben
1959 — John Nicholls
1960 — John James
1961 — John James*
1962 — Sergio Silvagni
1963 — John Nicholls
1964 — Gordon Collis*
1965 — John Nicholls
1966 — John Nicholls
1967 — John Nicholls
1968 — Sergio Silvagni
1969 — Garry Crane
1970 — Adrian Gallagher
1971 — Geoff Southby
1972 — Geoff Southby
1973 — Peter Jones
1974 — Bruce Doull
1975 — Alex Jesaulenko
1976 — Trevor Keogh
1977 — Bruce Doull
1978 — Trevor Keogh
1979 — Mike Fitzpatrick
1980 — Bruce Doull
1981 — Ken Hunter
1982 — Jim Buckley
1983 — Wayne Johnston
1984 — Bruce Doull
1985 — Justin Madden
1986 — Wayne Johnston and Craig Bradley (tied)
1987 — Stephen Kernahan
1988 — Craig Bradley
1989 — Stephen Kernahan
1990 — Stephen Silvagni
1991 — Justin Madden
1992 — Stephen Kernahan
1993 — Craig Bradley
1994 — Greg Williams*
1995 — Brett Ratten
1996 — Stephen Silvagni
1997 — Brett Ratten
1998 — Fraser Brown
1999 — Matthew Allan
2000 — Brett Ratten and Scott Camporeale (tied)
2001 — Anthony Koutoufides
2002 — Corey McKernan
2003 — Andrew McKay
John Nicholls Medal
2004 — David Teague
2005 — Anthony Koutoufides
2006 — Lance Whitnall
2007 — Andrew Carrazzo
2008 — Chris Judd
2009 — Chris Judd
2010 — Chris Judd*
2011 — Marc Murphy
2012 — Heath Scotland
2013 — Kade Simpson
2014 — Bryce Gibbs
2015 — Patrick Cripps
2016 — Sam Docherty
2017 — Marc Murphy
*denotes the Brownlow Medal winner
Bold denotes a premiership year
