Mark of the Year
Awarded forThe best mark taken each season in the Australian Football League
Sponsored byFour'N Twenty
CountryAustralia
Presented byAustralian Football League
First awarded2001
Currently held byMitch Georgiades
Websiteafl.com.au/mark-of-the-year
RelatedGoal of the Year
Marks where one player jumps upon another's back for height – known as "spectacular marks" – are often named Mark of the Year.

In Australian rules football, a player can take a mark by catching the ball from a kick, which earns protection from tackles. In the Australian Football League (AFL), the mark subjectively judged the best in each season is named Mark of the Year.

The award is almost always given to spectacular marks – those where one player jumps upon another's back to reach the ball. Although there are no formal rules prescribing what a good mark is, some important factors are how high the player leaps, how long he stays in the air, whether his catch is clean, whether he catches the ball with extended arms, and how dramatic his fall is.[1]

The award was inspired by a famous mark taken by Carlton's Alex Jesaulenko in the 1970 VFL Grand Final. Following Jesaulenko's mark, two football television shows – Channel Seven's World of Sport and The Winners on the ABC – began awarding the title "Mark of the Year" to the best marks as judged by their panels of football experts. The two shows would often choose different winners. Seven's award was more prestigious because the winning player received a car, but the ABC's edition only bestowed lesser prizes like mugs and bicycles – a disparity bemoaned by several players who only won the latter.

In 2001, the AFL itself began operating an official Mark of the Year award in competition with Seven, which became the more prominent award. Certain sources, like the AFL Record, only acknowledge these official winners as having taken Marks of the Year.

The competition is run in conjunction with the Goal of the Year contest, which recognises the best goal kicked during an AFL season. Two players have won both the "Mark of the Year" and "Goal of the Year" awards in the same season: Michael Mitchell and Peter Bosustow.

Background

Currently also known by its sponsorship name as the Four'N Twenty AFL Mark of the Year,[2][3] the competition is open to players in the AFL (Australian rules football's highest league).[4][5] Winners receive an assortment of prizes, including $5,000 for their grassroots (junior) club, the use of a Toyota Kluger for 12 months and the Alex Jesaulenko Medal.[3][4][6][7]

The current Victorian Football League (formerly known as the Victorian Football Association) runs a similar competition; however, the winners are selected only from the few games that are televised.[citation needed] Many other amateur Australian rules football leagues also run an equivalent competition, but they often rely on less comprehensive television footage; some amateur leagues rely on spectators who submit photos and amateur video recordings to the league,[8] or previously to television shows such as The Footy Show.[9][10]

Chris Tarrant's mark in Round 10, 2001, was previously used as the basis of the silhouette for the Mark of the Year logo despite, ironically, being beaten to the honour by Gary Moorcroft's Round 14 mark, considered by many to be one of the best marks of all time.[3][11]

History

The competition was initiated following Alex Jesaulenko's mark over Graeme "Jerker" Jenkin in the 1970 VFL Grand Final and later recognised officially as the Mark of the Year; the medal awarded to the winner now bears his name.[4][5][12] During the 1970s and early 1980s, the award was decided by a panel of football experts on Seven's World of Sport and during the 1980s and 1990s, the winning mark was determined by selected football journalists and experts.[4] With minor modifications, the current selection process was first used in the 1998 season.[8][13]

Selection process

After each round of the regular AFL season, three "mark of the week" nominations are determined by a panel of football experts. The public can then vote for a weekly winner on the AFL website.[2][7]

After the regular season's end, the title is given to a single mark, which is chosen by the All-Australian selection committee; the public is not given a say in the outcome. The selection committee is not restricted to selecting a winner from the mark of the week winners; indeed, in 2010, the two favourites both came in round 21, and although the public voted Brendon Goddard as mark of the week, the selection panel named Jurrah as Mark of the Year. The winner is announced during grand final week.[7]

Annual winners

External video
video icon Every Mark of the Year from 2001–2019

Official recipients

Table of winners
Year Winner Club Opposition Rd. Venue Ref.
2001 Gary Moorcroft Essendon Western Bulldogs 14 Docklands Stadium [14]
2002 Jonathan Brown Brisbane Hawthorn 17 Melbourne Cricket Ground [15]
2003 Chris Tarrant Collingwood Geelong 18 Docklands Stadium [16]
2004 Ashley Sampi West Coast Melbourne 7 Melbourne Cricket Ground [17]
2005 Luke McPharlin Fremantle West Coast 3 Subiaco Oval
2006 Brad Ottens Geelong Sydney 5 Docklands Stadium [18]
2007 Michael Newton Melbourne North Melbourne 17 Docklands Stadium [19]
2008 Matthew Lloyd Essendon Melbourne 18 Melbourne Cricket Ground [20]
2009 Brett Burton Adelaide Carlton 22 Docklands Stadium [21]
2010 Liam Jurrah Melbourne Port Adelaide 21 Football Park [22]
2011 Andrew Krakouer Collingwood Adelaide 9 Docklands Stadium [23][24]

[25][26]

2012 Jeremy Howe Melbourne Sydney 8 Sydney Cricket Ground [27]
2013 Jamie Elliott Collingwood Port Adelaide 14 Football Park [28]
2014 Chad Wingard Port Adelaide St Kilda 12 Adelaide Oval [29]
2015 Nic Naitanui West Coast Geelong 9 Subiaco Oval
2016 Majak Daw North Melbourne Collingwood 18 Docklands Stadium [30]
2017 Joe Daniher Essendon St Kilda 17 Docklands Stadium [31]
2018 Isaac Heeney Sydney Melbourne 21 Melbourne Cricket Ground [32]
2019 Liam Ryan West Coast Melbourne 9 Perth Stadium [33]
2020 Sam Walsh Carlton Port Adelaide 7 Gabba
2021 Shai Bolton Richmond Geelong 8 Melbourne Cricket Ground
2022 Mitch Georgiades Port Adelaide Fremantle 16 Perth Stadium

Channel Seven and ABC recipients

Table of winners
Year Winner Club Opposition Rd. Venue Ref.
1971 [data unknown/missing]
1972
1973 Alan Atkinson Collingwood Hawthorn 21 Waverley Park [34][35]
1974 Billy Picken Collingwood Richmond 9 Melbourne Cricket Ground [35]
1975 [data unknown/missing]
1976 Billy Picken (2) Collingwood St Kilda 16 Victoria Park [35]
1977 [data unknown/missing]
1978 Peter Moore Collingwood Carlton 18 Princes Park [36][37][38]
1979 Trevor Barker (Seven) St Kilda [data unknown/missing] [39]
Michael Roach (ABC) Richmond Hawthorn 5 Melbourne Cricket Ground [39]
1980 [data unknown/missing]
1981 Peter Bosustow Carlton Geelong 18 Princes Park [40]
1982 Geoff Raines (ABC) Richmond Fitzroy 2 Melbourne Cricket Ground
1983 Ken Hunter (Seven) Carlton Richmond 1 Princes Park [41]
Peter Bosustow (ABC) Carlton [data unknown/missing] [42]
1984 Wayne Carroll (Seven) Sydney Footscray 16 Sydney Cricket Ground [43][44]
Denis Banks (ABC) Collingwood Footscray 10 Western Oval [44]
1985 Gary Ablett, Sr. Geelong North Melbourne 5 Kardinia Park [45]
1986 Tony Morwood (Seven) Sydney Fitzroy SF Melbourne Cricket Ground [46]
Alan Ezard (ABC) Essendon Carlton 5 Waverley Park [47]
1987 Warwick Capper (ABC) Sydney North Melbourne 10 Sydney Cricket Ground [41][48]
1988 Stephen Silvagni Carlton Collingwood 14 Melbourne Cricket Ground [49]
1989 Alastair Lynch Fitzroy North Melbourne 16 Melbourne Cricket Ground [50]
1990 Michael Mitchell Richmond Fitzroy 5 Melbourne Cricket Ground [51]
1991 Brett Allison North Melbourne Collingwood 11 Melbourne Cricket Ground [52][53]
1992 Nicky Winmar St Kilda Essendon 16 Melbourne Cricket Ground [54]
1993 Tony Modra Adelaide North Melbourne 8 Football Park [55]
1994 Gary Ablett, Sr. (2) Geelong Collingwood 7 Melbourne Cricket Ground [56]
1995 Shaun Smith Melbourne Brisbane Lions 22 The Gabba [57]
1996 Ben Hart Adelaide St Kilda 8 Football Park [58]
1997 Tony Modra (2) Adelaide North Melbourne 17 Football Park [55]
1998 Winston Abraham North Melbourne Port Adelaide 18 Manuka Oval [59]
1999 Matthew Lappin Carlton Essendon 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground [60]
2000 Tony Modra (3) Fremantle Geelong 1 Subiaco Oval [55]

References

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