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Adelaide Crows champion Ebony Marinoff has led a South Australian charge at the AFLW Players’ MVP Awards, winning the 2024 Most Valuable Player Award, presented by KPMG.
Voted by her peers as the competition’s best, Marinoff joins all-time greats Erin Phillips (2017, 2019) and Andrew McLeod (2001) as the Crows’ MVP recipients.
Marinoff, a foundation AFLW player, has averaged 31 disposals and 12 tackles in her 13 matches so far this year, and led the home and away season in disposals as well as tackles.
The star midfielder was presented the MVP trophy at an exclusive event in North Melbourne on Tuesday night, edging out 2020 and 2023 winner Jasmine Garner.
In addition to the headline award, Marinoff was also chosen by the players as Best Captain, presented by The Diamond Guys, with 2023 Best Captain Kate Hore and 2022 MVP Emily Bates rounding out the top three.
“It’s an honour to be voted as the AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player as well as Best Captain,” Marinoff said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in AFLW for the entirety of its nine seasons and have witnessed first-hand how much the talent and competition has grown.”
“To be recognised by my peers, who put everything into their craft each week, is really special.”
“Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees tonight.”
Earlier in the night, Adelaide’s Chelsea Randall was crowned Most Courageous Player, presented by Tackle Your Feelings, polling ahead of Melbourne’s Eliza McNamara and Gold Coast’s Daisy D’Arcy.
This marks Randall’s sixth nod, having previously won the title in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (Season 7), equaling the Most Courageous Player award record set by Glenn Archer in the mid-2000s Coincidentally, both players achieved their six Most Courageous titles within a nine-season span.
Following an outstanding year, Port Adelaide young gun Shineah Goody took home the Best First-Year Player Award, presented by Torrens University Australia, beating Bomber Amy Gaylor and Magpie Lucille Cronin.
Brisbane premiership player Jade Ellenger was also awarded the Education and Training Excellence Award, presented by Torrens University Australia, for her commitment to studies away from the football field.
Consistent with the process to crown the AFL Players’ MVP Award, known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, AFLW players voted to decide the player most worthy of the AFLW Players’ MVP Award (see below for voting process).
WINNERS AND TOP POLLING PLAYERS
AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player, presented by KPMG
- Ebony Marinoff
- Jasmine Garner
- Ella Roberts
- Mim Strom
- Ashleigh Riddell
Most Courageous, presented by Tackle Your Feelings
- Chelsea Randall
- Eliza McNamara
- Daisy D’Arcy
- Rachel Kearns
- Cathy Svarc
Best Captain, presented by The Diamond Guys
- Ebony Marinoff
- Emily Bates
- Kate Hore
- Breanna Koenen
- Emma Kearney
Best First Year Player Award, presented by Torrens University Australia
- Shineah Goody
- Amy Gaylor
- Lucille Cronin
- Elaine Grigg
- Kaitlyn Srhoj
MVP Voting Process
MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three teammates they consider to have been the most valuable this season. Each club’s votes are then tallied to form a nomination list, with 54 players across the 18 teams nominated for the award.
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, with every captain automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.
The AFLPA is proud to partner with KPMG for the AFLW MVP Awards. KPMG is a professional services firm with strong expertise in tax, advisory, audit and assurance. Since the inception of AFLW, KPMG have been a true believer in its growth, and have partnered with the AFLPA to create meaningful opportunities for our AFLW members.
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