Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy

Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy
Awarded forThe best and fairest player at the Melbourne Football Club
LocationCrown Palladium
CountryAustralia
Presented byMelbourne Football Club
History
First award1935
First winnerAllan La Fontaine
Most winsAllan La Fontaine
Jim Stynes
Clayton Oliver (4 times)
Most recentJack Viney (2024)

The Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Melbourne Football Club throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL) season. The Melbourne Football Club was established in 1858[1][2] and was a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association, playing in the league from 1877 to 1896.[3] After the formation of the Victorian Football League in 1896, Melbourne joined the league as a foundation club the next year and has competed in the league ever since.[4] The inaugural Melbourne best and fairest winner was Allan La Fontaine in 1935, and he retained it the following season.[5][6] The award was known as the Melbourne best and fairest[5] until it was renamed in 1943 in honour of Keith 'Bluey' Truscott, a former dual premiership player and World War II fighter ace killed in service in 1943.[7]

Allan La Fontaine, Jim Stynes and Clayton Oliver have each won the award on four occasions in 1935, 1936, 1941 and 1942; 1991, 1995, 1996 and 1997 and 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 respectively; the most for any recipient of the award.[8] Jim Stynes and Nathan Jones are the only two players to have won the award in three consecutive seasons; in the 1995–1997 seasons and 2012–2014 seasons respectively.[9] Two players have won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy in the same season as winning the Brownlow Medal, which is awarded to the fairest and best player in the VFL/AFL, Jim Stynes in 1991 and Shane Woewodin in 2000.[10][11] The voting system as of the 2016 AFL season, consists of four members of the match committee giving each player a ranking out of ten after each game. Players can receive a maximum of 40 votes for a game.[12]

  1. ^ "Winter Practice". Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle. Vol. 3, no. 80. Victoria, Australia. 10 July 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Taylor, E. C. H. (1957). 100 Years of Football, The Story of the Melbourne Football Club. Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne Football Club.
  3. ^ "The Victorian Football Association". North Melbourne Courier and West Melbourne Advertiser. No. 72. North Melbourne, VIC. 19 March 1897. p. 3.
  4. ^ "History of Australian Football". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Football Awards–Melbourne Best". The Argus. Melbourne. 30 October 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  6. ^ Burgan, Matt (5 September 2013). "Jones goes back-to-back in B&F". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. ^ Baum, Greg (14 May 2009). "Cordner's life of unflagging service". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  8. ^ Burgan, Matt (21 February 2014). "Stynes' legacy honoured with MCG statue". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  9. ^ Guthrie, Ben (4 September 2014). "Jones edges out young recruit in Dees' best and fairest". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Jim Stynes won the Brownlow Medal in 1991 but also captured the hearts of Australia with his amazing work with underprivileged and troubled youths". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ^ Allen, Steve (29 September 2015). "Brownlow Medal 2015: remember when Shane Woewodin shocked the footy world?". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Who is leading the best-and-fairest count at your club?". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.