Gawn makes history, Daicos dominates… now finals

The blazers have been handed out, the speeches made and the best players of 2026 recognised, and now comes the bit footballers really want.

An AFL Awards night on Tuesday produced history for Melbourne champion Max Gawn and further evidence that Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos has put together one of the great individual seasons.

But by Friday night, none of it will matter much.

It’s finals time.

Max stands alone

At 34, Gawn has gone where no player has gone before, becoming the first nine-time All-Australian after another extraordinary season in Melbourne’s ruck.

The Demons skipper moved clear of some serious company, with Gary Ablett snr, Gary Ablett jnr, Patrick Dangerfield, Lance Franklin, Robert Harvey and Mark Ricciuto all having earned eight selections.

The selectors didn’t stop there, naming Gawn captain of the 2026 All-Australian team for the second time.

Western Bulldogs champion Marcus Bontempelli is nipping at Gawn’s heels, collecting his eighth blazer, while Fremantle’s brilliant season was rewarded with a competition-high five selections.

Nine players earned their first All-Australian jackets, including young Docker Murphy Reid, who at just 20 became the youngest All-Australian since Mark Ricciuto in 1994.

The Daicos show rolls on

Then there is Nick Daicos, the 23-year-old Pies gun named All-Australian for the fourth consecutive season and completed a stunning individual double, winning both the AFL Players’ Association MVP and the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year.

His coaches award came with a record 147 votes, smashing Dustin Martin’s previous benchmark of 122.

Daicos finished 38 votes clear of Bontempelli and almost 50 ahead of Gawn, having collected at least 30 disposals in 18 of his 22 matches.

He also became the youngest multiple winner of the Leigh Matthews Trophy after being voted the competition’s MVP by his fellow players for the second straight season.

Then there’s the Brownlow Medal. Daicos isn’t merely favourite, in some markets he has shortened to an extraordinary $1.01, making the game’s most famous individual award look almost over before a vote has been read.

But who was robbed?

No All-Australian team arrives without an argument.

Western Bulldogs midfielder Ed Richards might have the strongest grievance after another superb season that had him firmly in the conversation among the competition’s best.

Sydney ruckman Brodie Grundy was another desperately unlucky casualty, squeezed out by Gawn and Fremantle’s Luke Jackson.

Dockers captain Alex Pearce also missed despite leading the minor premier and one of the competition’s strongest defences, while Patrick Cripps, Lachie Neale, Will Ashcroft, Jack Gunston and Charlie Cameron were among a formidable group left without blazers.

And before the final team was even chosen, North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel had been a shock omission from the 46-man squad despite finishing fourth in the AFL for average disposals.

That’s footy. Pick 23 players and somebody is always going to feel robbed. If the player doesn’t, his fans certainly do.

Enough awards. Bring on September

So that brings us to what is most important now.

The AFL’s new wildcard finals begin at the MCG on Friday night when the Western Bulldogs face Collingwood at 7.40pm.

It means Daicos gets barely three days to admire his trophies before trying to keep the Magpies’ season alive, while the Bulldogs will have Bontempelli and the unlucky Richards carrying their own ambitions into September.

On Saturday night it’s Melbourne against Carlton at the MCG at 7.35pm — and Gawn goes from wearing an All-Australian blazer into battle mode, trying to drag the Demons one step closer to another premiership.

Individual honours are wonderful but there is still only one medal every footballer really wants around his neck, and the race for that one starts now.