| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Sydney | Mark Naley | 65 (0) | 74 | 23 | AA: 1986, 1987; Magarey: 1991; Prem: 1987 | |
| 1982 | Geelong | Baden Harper | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1986 | Richmond | Richard Anderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1987 | Fitzroy | Andrew Brockhurst | 38 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | North Melbourne | John McNamara | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | West Coast | Peter Matera | 253 | 217 | 126 | AA: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997; B&F: 1997; Norm Smith: 1992; Prem: 1992, 1994 | |
| 1990 | Collingwood | Jason McCartney | 182 (38) | 63 | 6 | ||
| 1991 | Sydney | Andrew McGovern | 83 (20) | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1992 | Priority | Brisbane | Justin Leppitsch | 227 | 194 | 20 | AA: 1999, 2002, 2003; B&F: 1999; Prem: 2001, 2002, 2003 |
| 1993 | Priority | Sydney | Glenn Gorman | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | |
| 1994 | Essendon | Scott Lucas | 270 | 471 | 58 | B&F: 2003, 2006; AA40: 2007; Prem: 2000 | |
| 1995 | Fitzroy | Scott Bamford | 59 (22) | 33 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | Comp | Sydney | Mark Kinnear | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1997 | Essendon | Mark Bolton | 124 | 50 | 4 | ||
| 1998 | Sydney | Ryan Fitzgerald | 18 (10) | 23 | 0 | ||
| 1999 | Fremantle | Matthew Pavlich | 353 | 700 | 126 | AA: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; B&F: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011; Christian: 2002, 2005, 2008; AA40: 2010, 2012 | |
| 2000 | Carlton | Luke Livingston | 46 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2001 | Fremantle | Graham Polak | 111 (73) | 25 | 6 | ||
| 2002 | Western Bulldogs | Tim Walsh | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | Western Bulldogs | Farren Ray | 209 (75) | 59 | 9 | ||
| 2004 | Richmond | Richard Tambling | 124 (108) | 62 | 9 | ||
| 2005 | Carlton | Josh Kennedy | 293 (22) | 723 | 90 | AA: 2015, 2016, 2017; Coleman: 2015, 2016; AA40: 2011, 2013; Prem: 2018 | |
| 2006 | Brisbane | Matthew Leuenberger | 137 (108) | 31 | 11 | ||
| 2007 | Melbourne | Cale Morton | 76 (73) | 34 | 4 | ||
| 2008 | Port Adelaide | Hamish Hartlett | 193 | 77 | 26 | ||
| 2009 | Fremantle | Anthony Morabito | 26 | 14 | 3 | ||
| 2010 | West Coast | Andrew Gaff | 275 | 83 | 110 | AA: 2015, 2018; B&F: 2015; AA40: 2016, 2019, 2020 | |
| 2011 | GWS | Will Hoskin-Elliott | 204 (52) | 169 | 11 | Prem: 2023 | |
| 2012 | Comp | Melbourne | Jimmy Toumpas | 37 (27) | 7 | 0 | |
| 2013 | Western Bulldogs | Marcus Bontempelli | 216 | 200 | 169 | AA: 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023; MVP: 2021, 2023; AFLCA: 2019; B&F: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023; AFLCA Young: 2015; AFLPA 1st: 2014; AA40: 2017, 2022; Prem: 2016 | |
| 2014 | GWS | Jarrod Pickett | 17 (0) | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | Melbourne | Clayton Oliver | 162 | 51 | 116 | AA: 2018, 2021, 2022; AFLCA: 2021, 2022; B&F: 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022; AFLCA Young: 2017; AA40: 2020; Prem: 2021 | |
| 2016 | Gold Coast | Ben Ainsworth | 117 | 98 | 3 | ||
| 2017 | North Melbourne | Luke Davies-Uniacke | 85 | 30 | 27 | ||
| 2018 | St Kilda | Max King | 71 | 140 | 14 | ||
| 2019 | GWS | Lachie Ash | 82 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Sydney | Logan McDonald | 44 | 56 | 1 | ||
| 2021 | Collingwood | Nick Daicos | 47 | 26 | 39 | AA: 2023; Rising Star: 2022; AFLPA 1st: 2022; Prem: 2023 | |
| 2022 | North Melbourne | George Wardlaw | 8 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2023 | North Melbourne | Zane Duursma | 0 | 0 | 0 |