| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | St Kilda | Grant Campbell | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982 | Collingwood | Gary Shaw | 38 (32) | 38 | 2 | ||
| 1986 | Melbourne | Steven Febey | 258 | 40 | 21 | ||
| 1987 | Collingwood | Graham Wright | 201 | 107 | 44 | Prem: 1990 | |
| 1988 | Fitzroy | Carl Dilena | 33 (23) | 23 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | St Kilda | Jody Arnol | 13 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1990 | Fitzroy | David Donato | 12 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Melbourne | Darren Kowal | 105 | 46 | 1 | ||
| 1992 | Priority | Essendon | Michael Prior | 90 (81) | 20 | 2 | |
| 1993 | Priority | Richmond | Justin Murphy | 185 (12) | 151 | 20 | |
| 1994 | Priority | Sydney | Shannon Grant | 301 (58) | 361 | 77 | AA: 2005; B&F: 2001; Norm Smith: 1999; Prem: 1999 |
| 1995 | West Coast | Brendon Fewster | 70 (33) | 43 | 5 | ||
| 1996 | Comp | Brisbane | Rory Hilton | 91 (9) | 56 | 17 | |
| 1997 | Hawthorn | Trent Croad | 222 (184) | 189 | 25 | AA: 2005; Prem: 2008 | |
| 1998 | Sydney | Nic Fosdike | 164 | 66 | 19 | Prem: 2005 | |
| 1999 | Richmond | Aaron Fiora | 140 (78) | 58 | 0 | ||
| 2000 | Collingwood | Alan Didak | 218 | 274 | 33 | AA: 2006, 2010; B&F: 2006; AA40: 2009; Prem: 2010 | |
| 2001 | Priority | West Coast | Chris Judd | 279 (134) | 228 | 210 | AA: 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011; Brownlow: 2004, 2010; MVP: 2006, 2011; B&F: 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010; Norm Smith: 2005; Christian: 2006; AFLCA Young: 2003; AFLPA 1st: 2002; Prem: 2006 |
| 2002 | Brisbane | Jared Brennan | 173 (119) | 101 | 31 | ||
| 2003 | Priority | Melbourne | Colin Sylvia | 163 (157) | 130 | 27 | |
| 2004 | Priority | Western Bulldogs | Ryan Griffen | 257 (202) | 162 | 73 | AA: 2013; B&F: 2010, 2013; AFLCA Young: 2006 |
| 2005 | Priority | Hawthorn | Xavier Ellis | 120 (86) | 37 | 1 | Prem: 2008 |
| 2006 | North Melbourne | Lachlan Hansen | 151 | 81 | 7 | ||
| 2007 | West Coast | Chris Masten | 215 | 70 | 25 | Prem: 2018 | |
| 2008 | Fremantle | Stephen Hill | 218 | 112 | 36 | AFLCA Young: 2010; AA40: 2015 | |
| 2009 | Richmond | Dustin Martin | 302 | 338 | 212 | AA: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020; Brownlow: 2017; MVP: 2017; AFLCA: 2017; B&F: 2016, 2017; Ayres: 2017, 2019, 2020; Norm Smith: 2017, 2019, 2020; AA40: 2014, 2015, 2019, 2023; Prem: 2017, 2019, 2020 | |
| 2010 | Gold Coast | Sam Day | 155 | 117 | 5 | ||
| 2011 | GWS | Dom Tyson | 113 (13) | 45 | 20 | ||
| 2012 | GWS | Lachie Plowman | 145 (20) | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | St Kilda | Jack Billings | 171 (155) | 112 | 32 | ||
| 2014 | Melbourne | Angus Brayshaw | 167 | 49 | 33 | AA40: 2022; Prem: 2021 | |
| 2015 | NSW Zone | Sydney | Callum Mills | 162 | 28 | 47 | AA: 2022; Rising Star: 2016; B&F: 2022; AFLPA 1st: 2016; AA40: 2021 |
| 2016 | Brisbane | Hugh McCluggage | 179 | 114 | 37 | AA40: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 | |
| 2017 | Carlton | Paddy Dow | 83 (73) | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2018 | Gold Coast | Izak Rankine | 83 (48) | 122 | 10 | ||
| 2019 | Melbourne | Luke Jackson | 98 (52) | 73 | 11 | Rising Star: 2021; AA40: 2023; Prem: 2021 | |
| 2020 | North Melbourne | Will Phillips | 43 | 8 | 1 | ||
| 2021 | GWS | Finn Callaghan | 49 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | North Melbourne | Harry Sheezel | 44 | 17 | 3 | Rising Star: 2023; AFLCA Young: 2024; AFLPA 1st: 2023; AA40: 2024 | |
| 2023 | Gold Coast | Jed Walter | 14 | 11 | 0 |