| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | North Melbourne | Craig Holden | 109 (29) | 24 | 2 | AA: 1987 | |
| 1982 | Melbourne | Keith Thomas | 28 (0) | 15 | 0 | ||
| 1986 | Geelong | Michael Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1987 | St Kilda | Michael Quirk | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | Richmond | Chris Naish | 161 (143) | 228 | 15 | ||
| 1989 | Brisbane | Brad Rowe | 73 (14) | 80 | 7 | ||
| 1990 | Geelong | Stewart Devlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Melbourne | Jason Norrish | 148 (20) | 25 | 8 | B&F: 1998 | |
| 1992 | Sydney | Jason Spinks | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1993 | Sydney | Adam Heuskes | 125 (49) | 12 | 12 | AA: 1997 | |
| 1994 | St Kilda | Joel Smith | 221 (58) | 90 | 23 | AA: 2001, 2003; B&F: 2001 | |
| 1995 | Hawthorn | Brendan Krummel | 64 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | Essendon | Daniel McAlister | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1997 | Brisbane | Luke Power | 302 (282) | 226 | 84 | AA: 2004; Prem: 2001, 2002, 2003 | |
| 1998 | Port Adelaide | Michael Stevens | 61 (17) | 19 | 3 | ||
| 1999 | Fremantle | Leigh Brown | 246 (63) | 138 | 8 | Prem: 2010 | |
| 2000 | West Coast | Andrew McDougall | 43 (38) | 50 | 0 | ||
| 2001 | St Kilda | Xavier Clarke | 106 (105) | 49 | 5 | ||
| 2002 | Sydney | Jarrad McVeigh | 325 | 201 | 55 | AA: 2013; B&F: 2008, 2013; Prem: 2012 | |
| 2003 | Melbourne | Brock McLean | 157 (94) | 76 | 47 | ||
| 2004 | Hawthorn | Lance Franklin | 354 (182) | 1066 | 186 | AA: 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018; Coleman: 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017; B&F: 2008; AA40: 2007, 2009, 2013, 2021; Prem: 2008, 2013 | |
| 2005 | Collingwood | Scott Pendlebury | 389 | 195 | 221 | AA: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2019; AFLCA: 2013; B&F: 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016; Norm Smith: 2010; AFLCA Young: 2007; AA40: 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020; Prem: 2010, 2023 | |
| 2006 | Port Adelaide | Travis Boak | 352 | 204 | 174 | AA: 2013, 2014, 2020; B&F: 2011, 2019; AA40: 2019 | |
| 2007 | Western Bulldogs | Jarrad Grant | 95 (81) | 94 | 5 | ||
| 2008 | Essendon | Michael Hurley | 194 | 109 | 32 | AA: 2015, 2017 | |
| 2009 | North Melbourne | Ben Cunnington | 238 | 98 | 71 | B&F: 2014, 2019; AA40: 2019 | |
| 2010 | Brisbane | Jared Polec | 148 (16) | 75 | 24 | ||
| 2011 | GWS | Matt Buntine | 67 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | Western Bulldogs | Jake Stringer | 195 (89) | 339 | 28 | AA: 2015; AA40: 2021; Prem: 2016 | |
| 2013 | Gold Coast | Kade Kolodjashnij | 80 (78) | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | Collingwood | Jordan De Goey | 164 | 193 | 53 | AA40: 2018, 2023; Prem: 2023 | |
| 2015 | Essendon | Darcy Parish | 154 | 54 | 49 | AA: 2021 | |
| 2016 | NSW Zone | GWS | Will Setterfield | 70 (2) | 14 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Fremantle | Adam Cerra | 120 (76) | 33 | 16 | ||
| 2018 | Port Adelaide | Connor Rozee | 112 | 104 | 40 | AA: 2022, 2023; B&F: 2022 | |
| 2019 | Sydney | Dylan Stephens | 49 (43) | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Sydney | Braeden Campbell | 54 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Gold Coast | Mac Andrew | 24 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Essendon | Elijah Tsatas | 7 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | Hawthorn | Nick Watson | 0 | 0 | 0 |