# Magarey Medal

The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by William Ashley Magarey, then chairman of the league. The current recipients are Harry Boyd from the Norwood Football Club and Will Snelling from the Sturt Football Club.

## History

William Magarey was born in Adelaide, South Australia. A lawyer by vocation, he had an enduring interest in sports, although he did not play football. He was, however, an active sports administrator who, in 1897, became the inaugural Chairman of the South Australian Football Association (later renamed the SANFL). The sport at that time was known for often rough play, and Magarey wanted to help combat this, and help gain more respect for umpires.
In 1898 Magarey presented the first Medal to South Australia’s "fairest and most brilliant player" of that season. Similar best and fairest player awards followed in other state-based competitions, notably the Sandover Medal in Western Australia from 1921 and Brownlow Medal in Victoria from 1924.
The Magarey Medal has been awarded in every year of SANFL competition since 1898, with the exception of 1900, 1904 (no record being extant), when the competition was suspended due to war 1916-1918, and when a restricted competition was held during the war period of 1942-1944.
After each match, the three field umpires (those umpires who control the flow of the game) confer and award 3, 2 and 1 point(s) to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best during the match. Players suspended for a reportable offence during the season are ineligible to win the award though they can continue gaining votes leading to times when an ineligible player would poll the most votes in the medal count but not win the medal. This occurred in 1912, 1968, 1983 and 1987 (see table below).
In the 1990s the awarding of the medal was changed so that players tied on the most votes would share the medal. Prior to this, a countback system was used, whereby the player with the most "best on ground" performances would be awarded the medal. In 1998, ten players who had finished runner-up over prior years owing to the countback rule were retrospectively awarded the Magarey Medal. A single design for the medal was used after this.

## Recipients

The first recipient of the Magarey Medal was Norwood’s Alby Green in 1898.
| Year | Player | Team | Votes |
| 1898 | Alby Green | Norwood | none |
| 1899 | Stan Malin | Port Adelaide | none |
| 1900 | No Award | | |
| 1901 | Phil Sandland | North Adelaide | none |
| 1902 | Tom MacKenzie | West Torrens | none |
| 1903 | Hendrick Waye | Sturt | none |
| 1904 | No Award | | |
| 1905 | Tom MacKenzie | North Adelaide | none |
| 1906 | Tom MacKenzie | North Adelaide | none |
| 1907 | Jack Mack | Port Adelaide | none |
| 1908 | James Tierney | West Adelaide | none |
| 1909 | Richard Head | West Adelaide | none |
| 1910 | Sampson Hosking | Port Adelaide | none |
| 1911 | Harold Cumberland | Sturt | none |
| 1912 | Dave Low | West Torrens | none**** |
| 1913 | Tom Leahy | North Adelaide | none |
| 1914 | Jack Ashley | Port Adelaide | * |
| 1915 | Frank Barry | South Adelaide | * |
| 1915 | Charlie Perry | Norwood | * |
| 1915 | Sampson Hosking | Port Adelaide | * |
| Play suspended due to WWI ||||
| 1919 | Dan Moriarty | South Adelaide | * |
| 1920 | Vic Richardson | Sturt | * |
| 1920 | Dan Moriarty | South Adelaide | * |
| 1921 | John Karney | West Torrens | 5* |
| 1921 | Charlie Adams | Port Adelaide | 5* |
| 1921 | Dan Moriarty | South Adelaide | 5* |
| 1921 | Wat Scott | Norwood | 5* |
| 1922 | Robert Barnes | West Adelaide | 8* |
| 1923 | Horrie Riley | Sturt | * |
| 1924 | Wat Scott | Norwood | * |
| 1925 | Alick Lill | Norwood | 34*** |
| 1925 | Peter Bampton | Port Adelaide | 34*** |
| 1926 | Bruce McGregor | West Adelaide | *** |
| 1927 | Bruce McGregor | West Adelaide | *** |
| 1928 | Jim Handby | Glenelg | *** |
| 1929 | Robert Snell | West Adelaide | 48*** |
| 1930 | Wat Scott | Norwood | 53*** |
| 1931 | Jack Sexton | West Adelaide | 44*** |
| 1932 | Max Pontifex | West Torrens | 37*** |
| 1933 | Keith Dunn | Sturt | 31*** |
| 1934 | George Johnston | Glenelg | 46*** |
| 1935 | Jack Cockburn | South Adelaide | 42*** |
| 1936 | Bill McCallum | Norwood | 31*** |
| 1937 | Harold Hawke | North Adelaide | 37*** |
| 1938 | Bob Quinn | Port Adelaide | 32*** |
| 1939 | Jeff Pash | North Adelaide | 16*** |
| 1939 | Ray McArthur | West Adelaide | 16*** |
| 1940 | Mel Brock | Glenelg | 19*** |
| 1941 | Marcus Boyall | Glenelg | 25*** |
| Play suspended due to WWII ||||
| 1945 | Bob Quinn | Port Adelaide | 46*** |
| 1946 | Bob Hank | West Torrens | 23*** |
| 1947 | Bob Hank | West Torrens | 26*** |
| 1948 | Ron Phillips | North Adelaide | 15 |
| 1949 | Ron Phillips | North Adelaide | 18 |
| 1949 | Allan Crabb | Glenelg | 18 |
| 1950 | Ian McKay | North Adelaide | 20 |
| 1951 | John Marriott | Norwood | 33 |
| 1952 | Len Fitzgerald | Sturt | 25 |
| 1953 | Jim Deane | South Adelaide | 26 |
| 1954 | Len Fitzgerald | Sturt | 22 |
| 1955 | Lindsay Head | West Torrens | 20 |
| 1956 | Dave Boyd | Port Adelaide | 18 |
| 1957 | Ron Benton | West Adelaide | 16 |
| 1957 | Jim Deane | South Adelaide | 16 |
| 1958 | Lindsay Head | West Torrens | 20 |
| 1959 | Len Fitzgerald | Sturt | 18 |
| 1960 | Barrie Barbary | North Adelaide | 24 |
| 1961 | John Halbert | Sturt | 20 |
| 1962 | Ken Eustice | West Adelaide | 22 |
| 1963 | Lindsay Head | West Torrens | 26 |
| 1964 | Geof Motley | Port Adelaide | 26 |
| 1965 | Gary Window | Central District | 16 |
| 1966 | Ron Kneebone | Norwood | 22 |
| 1967 | Trevor Obst | Port Adelaide | 18 |
| 1967 | Don Lindner | North Adelaide | 18 |
| 1968 | Barrie Robran**** | North Adelaide | 22 |
| 1969 | Fred Phillis | Glenelg | 18 |
| 1970 | Barrie Robran | North Adelaide | 24 |
| 1971 | Russell Ebert | Port Adelaide | 21 |
| 1972 | Malcolm Blight | Woodville | 21 |
| 1973 | Barrie Robran | North Adelaide | 29 |
| 1974 | Russell Ebert | Port Adelaide | 28 |
| 1975 | Peter Woite | Port Adelaide | 20 |
| 1976 | Russell Ebert | Port Adelaide | 42 |
| 1977 | Trevor Grimwood | West Adelaide | 32 |
| 1978 | Kym Hodgeman | Glenelg | 50** |
| 1979 | John Duckworth | Central District | 44** |
| 1980 | Russell Ebert | Port Adelaide | 49** |
| 1981 | Michael Aish | Norwood | 44** |
| 1982 | Tony McGuinness | Glenelg | 44** |
| 1983 | Tony Antrobus**** | North Adelaide | 35** |
| 1984 | John Platten | Central District | 66** |
| 1985 | Grantley Fielke | West Adelaide | 54** |
| 1986 | Greg Anderson | Port Adelaide | 23 |
| 1987 | Andrew Jarman**** | North Adelaide | 23 |
| 1988 | Greg Whittlesea | Sturt | 28 |
| 1989 | Gilbert McAdam | Central District | 23 |
| 1990 | Scott Hodges | Port Adelaide | 16 |
| First AFL Season. ||||
| 1991 | Mark Naley | South Adelaide | 29 |
| 1992 | Nathan Buckley | Port Adelaide | 27 |
| 1993 | Brenton Phillips | North Adelaide | 20 |
| 1994 | Garry McIntosh | Norwood | 22 |
| 1995 | Glenn Kilpatrick | West Adelaide | 17 |
| 1995 | Garry McIntosh | Norwood | 17 |
| 1996 | Josh Francou | North Adelaide | 26 |
| 1997 | Brodie Atkinson | Sturt | 23 |
| 1997 | Andrew Jarman | Norwood | 23 |
| 1998 | Andrew Osborn | South Adelaide | 16 |
| 1999 | Damian Squire | Sturt | 21 |
| 2000 | Damian Squire | Sturt | 21 |
| 2001 | Tony Brown | Port Adelaide | 19 |
| 2001 | Ryan O'Connor | Port Adelaide | 19 |
| 2002 | Tim Weatherald | Sturt | 16 |
| 2002 | Jade Sheedy | Sturt | 16 |
| 2003 | Brett Ebert | Port Adelaide | 25 |
| 2004 | Paul Thomas | Central District | 22 |
| 2005 | Jeremy Clayton | Port Adelaide | 24 |
| 2006 | Brett Backwell | Glenelg | 26 |
| 2007 | James Allan | North Adelaide | 19 |
| 2008 | Luke Crane | Sturt | 22 |
| 2009 | James Ezard | West Adelaide | 18 |
| 2009 | Rhys Archard | North Adelaide | 18 |
| 2010 | James Allan | North Adelaide | 22 |
| 2011 | James Allan | North Adelaide | 25 |
| 2012 | Joel Cross**** | South Adelaide | 18 |
| 2012 | Brad Symes**** | Central District | 18 |
| 2013 | Matt Thomas | Norwood | 26 |
| 2014 | Zane Kirkwood | Sturt | 29 |
| 2015 | Joel Cross | South Adelaide | 25 |
| 2016 | Zane Kirkwood | Sturt | 24 |
| 2017 | Mitch Grigg | Norwood | 23 |
| 2018 | Mitch Grigg | Norwood | 26 |
| 2019 | Luke Partington | Glenelg | 26 |
| 2020 | Campbell Combe | North Adelaide | 19 |
| 2021 | Bryce Gibbs | South Adelaide | 21 |
| 2021 | James Tsitas | Woodville-West Torrens | 21 |
| 2022 | Aaron Young | North Adelaide | 23 |
| 2023 | Harry Grant | Central District | 27 |
| 2024 | Harry Boyd | Norwood | 34 |
| 2024 | Will Snelling | Sturt | 34 |
* (*) signifies that 1 vote was awarded by one umpire each game.
* (**) signifies two umpires each awarded 3,2,1 votes each game.
* (***) signifies one umpire awarded 5,3,1 votes each game.
* Those without an asterisk signify a maximum of 3 votes awarded each game along with 2 and 1.
* (****) Players who polled the most votes but were ineligible due to suspension: Peter Darley (1968, tied for first); Stephen Kernahan (1983, 44 votes); Garry McIntosh (1987, 25 votes); James Boyd (2012, 26 votes). In 1912 votes were not awarded; Harold Oliver was unanimously considered the competitions best player, but was declared ineligible for the award due to a fight with Ed Edwards of Norwood.

### Multiple recipients

The following players have been multiple recipients of the medal.
| Years | Player | Team |
| Quadruple winner |||
| 1971, 1974, 1976, 1980 | R Ebert | Port Adelaide |
| Triple winners |||
| 1902, 1905, 1906 | T D MacKenzie | West Torrens / North Adelaide |
| 1921, 1924, 1930 | W Scott | Norwood |
| 1919, 1920, 1921 | D Moriarty | South Adelaide |
| 1952, 1954, 1959 | L C Fitzgerald | Sturt |
| 1955, 1958, 1963 | L H Head | West Torrens |
| 1968, 1970, 1973 | B C Robran | North Adelaide |
| 2007, 2010, 2011 | J Allan | North Adelaide |
| Double winners |||
| 1910, 1915 | S Hosking | Port Adelaide |
| 1926, 1927 | H B McGregor | West Adelaide |
| 1938, 1945 | R B Quinn | Port Adelaide |
| 1946, 1947 | R W Hank | West Torrens |
| 1948, 1949 | H R Phillips | North Adelaide |
| 1953, 1957 | J Deane | South Adelaide |
| 1994, 1995 | G McIntosh | Norwood |
| 1987, 1997 | A N Jarman | North Adelaide / Norwood |
| 1999, 2000 | D Squire | Sturt |
| 2012, 2015 | J Cross | South Adelaide |
| 2014, 2016 | Z Kirkwood | Sturt |
| 2017, 2018 | M Grigg | Norwood |
Malcolm Blight (1972), John Platten (1984) and Nathan Buckley (1992) are Magarey Medallists who subsequently won a Brownlow Medal as best and fairest players in AFL/VFL competition.