| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Collingwood | Chris Carpenter | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982 | Richmond | David Palm | 104 | 38 | 7 | ||
| 1986 | Fitzroy | Jason Taylor | 91 (7) | 34 | 11 | ||
| 1987 | Melbourne | Tim McNeil | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | Collingwood | Mark Bayliss | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | Essendon | Darren Smith | 9 (0) | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1990 | North Melbourne | Danny Sexton | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Geelong | Leigh Willison | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1992 | Hawthorn | Jonathon Robran | 83 (75) | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1993 | Western Bulldogs | Brad Johnson | 364 | 558 | 77 | AA: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007; B&F: 1999, 2002, 2006 | |
| 1994 | Richmond | Damien Ryan | 60 (30) | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1995 | Melbourne | Don Cockatoo-Collins | 9 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | Melbourne | Brent Grgic | 90 (77) | 32 | 1 | ||
| 1997 | Sydney | Jason Saddington | 162 (142) | 47 | 5 | ||
| 1998 | St Kilda | Lenny Hayes | 297 | 95 | 129 | AA: 2003, 2005, 2009; B&F: 2003, 2010, 2012; Norm Smith: 2010; AA40: 2008, 2010, 2012 | |
| 1999 | West Coast | Darren Glass | 270 | 8 | 12 | AA: 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012; B&F: 2007, 2009, 2011; Prem: 2006 | |
| 2000 | Carlton | Trent Sporn | 50 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 2001 | Collingwood | Richard Cole | 63 (56) | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | Essendon | Jason Winderlich | 129 | 83 | 12 | ||
| 2003 | West Coast | Beau Waters | 120 | 25 | 7 | AA: 2012; Christian: 2010; Prem: 2006 | |
| 2004 | Port Adelaide | Adam Thomson | 32 (28) | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2005 | Western Bulldogs | Shaun Higgins | 260 (129) | 229 | 70 | AA: 2018; B&F: 2017, 2018; AA40: 2015 | |
| 2006 | Western Bulldogs | Andrejs Everitt | 131 (36) | 93 | 5 | ||
| 2007 | Sydney | Patrick Veszpremi | 23 (11) | 17 | 2 | ||
| 2008 | Collingwood | Steele Sidebottom | 314 | 190 | 101 | AA: 2018; B&F: 2017, 2018; Ayres: 2018; Prem: 2010, 2023 | |
| 2009 | Melbourne | Jordan Gysberts | 19 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2010 | Gold Coast | Tom Lynch | 219 (131) | 462 | 49 | AA: 2016; B&F: 2015, 2016, 2022; AA40: 2022; Prem: 2019, 2020 | |
| 2011 | GWS | Toby Greene | 221 | 340 | 72 | AA: 2016, 2021, 2023; B&F: 2016, 2023; AA40: 2017 | |
| 2012 | Carlton | Troy Menzel | 44 (40) | 51 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Comp | West Coast | Dom Sheed | 158 | 69 | 47 | Prem: 2018 |
| 2014 | West Coast | Liam Duggan | 164 | 14 | 2 | Prem: 2018 | |
| 2015 | Adelaide | Wayne Milera | 99 | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2016 | Sydney | Oliver Florent | 148 | 43 | 13 | ||
| 2017 | GWS | Aiden Bonar | 34 (6) | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | GWS | Jye Caldwell | 61 (11) | 20 | 2 | ||
| 2019 | Gold Coast | Sam Flanders | 50 | 15 | 1 | ||
| 2020 | Adelaide | Luke Pedlar | 29 | 26 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | St Kilda | Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera | 47 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2022 | Carlton | Oliver Hollands | 25 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | Geelong | Connor O'Sullivan | 0 | 0 | 0 |