| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Brisbane | Stephen Williams | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1987 | Richmond | Bevan Cox | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | Carlton | Glenn Johnston | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | Essendon | Travis St Clair | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1990 | Sydney | Mark Collins | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Melbourne | Nick White | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Fitzroy | Michael Dunstan | 43 (38) | 31 | 1 | ||
| 1993 | St Kilda | Matthew Lappin | 251 (55) | 247 | 22 | AA: 2004 | |
| 1994 | Sydney | Michael O'Loughlin | 303 | 521 | 40 | AA: 1997, 2000; B&F: 1998; Prem: 2005 | |
| 1995 | Collingwood | Luke Godden | 36 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | Penalty | Essendon | |||||
| 1997 | Sydney | Fred Campbell | 12 (5) | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1998 | Richmond | James White | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1999 | Essendon | David Hille | 197 | 153 | 18 | B&F: 2008 | |
| 2000 | Richmond | Chris Hyde | 93 | 39 | 8 | ||
| 2001 | FS | Geelong | Gary Ablett | 357 (247) | 445 | 262 | AA: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; Brownlow: 2009, 2013; MVP: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013; AFLCA: 2007, 2008, 2009; B&F: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017; AA40: 2019; Prem: 2007, 2009 |
| 2002 | FS | Essendon | Jobe Watson | 220 | 113 | 113 | AA: 2012, 2013; B&F: 2009, 2010, 2012; AA40: 2010 |
| 2003 | North Melbourne | Eddie Sansbury | 40 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Adelaide | Ivan Maric | 157 (77) | 61 | 6 | AA40: 2012 | |
| 2005 | Richmond | Travis Casserly | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2006 | FS | Hawthorn | Josh Kennedy | 290 (13) | 157 | 146 | AA: 2012, 2014, 2016; B&F: 2012, 2015, 2016; Ayres: 2016; AA40: 2013, 2015, 2017; Prem: 2012 |
| 2007 | Fremantle | Chris Mayne | 248 (172) | 207 | 9 | AA40: 2013 | |
| 2008 | Carlton | Mitch Robinson | 247 (100) | 129 | 34 | B&F: 2015 | |
| 2009 | Geelong | Allen Christensen | 133 (65) | 114 | 7 | Prem: 2011 | |
| 2010 | Sydney | Luke Parker | 283 | 199 | 152 | AA: 2016; B&F: 2014, 2017, 2021; AA40: 2014, 2021; Prem: 2012 | |
| 2011 | North Melbourne | Tom Curran | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | St Kilda | Brodie Murdoch | 22 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Melbourne | Jay Kennedy-Harris | 39 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | Melbourne | Alex Neal-Bullen | 159 | 112 | 3 | Prem: 2021 | |
| 2015 | St Kilda | Brandon White | 11 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | Geelong | Tom Stewart | 154 | 4 | 31 | AA: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023; B&F: 2021, 2023; AFLCA Young: 2018; Prem: 2022 | |
| 2017 | Adelaide | Andrew McPherson | 28 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | Brisbane | Thomas Joyce | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Collingwood | Jay Rantall | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Richmond | Samson Ryan | 16 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Sydney | Corey Warner | 5 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Sydney | Caleb Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | Richmond | Kane McAuliffe | 0 | 0 | 0 |