| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Melbourne | Alan Johnson | 135 | 95 | 45 | B&F: 1983, 1989 | |
| 1982 | Western Bulldogs | Andrew Purser | 112 | 16 | 34 | B&F: 1984 | |
| 1986 | Brisbane | Martin Leslie | 107 | 11 | 7 | AA: 1988; B&F: 1990 | |
| 1987 | Richmond | Richard Lounder | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | Hawthorn | Alex McDonald | 107 (46) | 44 | 6 | ||
| 1989 | Richmond | Anthony Banik | 49 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1990 | Geelong | Stephen Hooper | 21 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Brisbane | John Hutton | 36 (18) | 79 | 2 | ||
| 1992 | Priority | West Coast | Drew Banfield | 265 | 76 | 21 | B&F: 1996; Prem: 1994, 2006 |
| 1993 | Priority | Sydney | Darren Gaspar | 228 (21) | 23 | 33 | AA: 2000, 2001; B&F: 2001 |
| 1994 | Priority | Fremantle | Jeff White | 268 (32) | 113 | 53 | AA: 2004; B&F: 2004 |
| 1995 | Fremantle | Clive Waterhouse | 106 | 178 | 13 | ||
| 1996 | Comp | West Coast | Michael Gardiner | 181 (129) | 110 | 30 | AA: 2003 |
| 1997 | Priority | Melbourne | Travis Johnstone | 209 (160) | 135 | 62 | B&F: 2005 |
| 1998 | Brisbane | Des Headland | 166 (52) | 177 | 42 | Prem: 2002 | |
| 1999 | Priority | Collingwood | Josh Fraser | 218 (200) | 168 | 32 | |
| 2000 | Priority | St Kilda | Nick Riewoldt | 336 | 718 | 153 | AA: 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014; Rising Star: 2002; MVP: 2004; B&F: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2014; AA40: 2007, 2012, 2013 |
| 2001 | Priority | Hawthorn | Luke Hodge | 346 (305) | 194 | 131 | AA: 2005, 2008, 2010; B&F: 2005, 2010; Norm Smith: 2008, 2014; AA40: 2007, 2013; Prem: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| 2002 | St Kilda | Brendon Goddard | 334 (205) | 160 | 77 | AA: 2009, 2010; B&F: 2013 | |
| 2003 | Priority | Western Bulldogs | Adam Cooney | 250 (219) | 202 | 86 | AA: 2008; Brownlow: 2008; AFLCA Young: 2005; AA40: 2010 |
| 2004 | Priority | Richmond | Brett Deledio | 275 (243) | 197 | 78 | AA: 2012, 2015; Rising Star: 2005; B&F: 2008, 2009; AFLPA 1st: 2005; AA40: 2008, 2010, 2011 |
| 2005 | Priority | Carlton | Marc Murphy | 300 | 197 | 114 | AA: 2011; AFLCA: 2011; B&F: 2011, 2017; AFLPA 1st: 2006; AA40: 2009 |
| 2006 | Carlton | Bryce Gibbs | 268 (231) | 152 | 89 | B&F: 2014; Magarey: 2021; AA40: 2014 | |
| 2007 | Priority | Carlton | Matthew Kreuzer | 189 | 94 | 27 | AA40: 2017 |
| 2008 | Melbourne | Jack Watts | 174 (153) | 161 | 15 | ||
| 2009 | Priority | Melbourne | Tom Scully | 187 (31) | 89 | 23 | AA40: 2016, 2017 |
| 2010 | Gold Coast | David Swallow | 240 | 109 | 25 | B&F: 2014 | |
| 2011 | GWS | Jonathon Patton | 95 (89) | 133 | 11 | ||
| 2012 | GWS | Lachie Whitfield | 233 | 71 | 56 | AA: 2018, 2024; B&F: 2018, 2020 | |
| 2013 | GWS | Tom Boyd | 61 (9) | 50 | 0 | Prem: 2016 | |
| 2014 | St Kilda | Paddy McCartin | 63 (35) | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | Carlton | Jacob Weitering | 181 | 11 | 9 | AA: 2024; B&F: 2020, 2023; AA40: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 | |
| 2016 | Essendon | Andrew McGrath | 157 | 20 | 11 | Rising Star: 2017; AFLPA 1st: 2017 | |
| 2017 | Brisbane | Cam Rayner | 137 | 132 | 11 | AA40: 2024 | |
| 2018 | Carlton | Sam Walsh | 119 | 42 | 63 | AA: 2021; Rising Star: 2019; B&F: 2021; Ayres: 2023; AFLCA Young: 2020; AFLPA 1st: 2019; AA40: 2022 | |
| 2019 | Gold Coast | Matt Rowell | 85 | 25 | 25 | ||
| 2020 | Western Bulldogs | Jamarra Ugle-Hagan | 67 | 103 | 7 | ||
| 2021 | North Melbourne | Jason Horne-Francis | 63 (17) | 46 | 16 | AA40: 2024 | |
| 2022 | GWS | Aaron Cadman | 34 | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | West Coast | Harley Reid | 20 | 10 | 0 | AFLPA 1st: 2024 |