| Year | Club | Player | Games | Goals | Votes | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Carlton | Ross Ditchburn | 28 | 91 | 3 | Prem: 1982 | |
| 1982 | Carlton | John Simpson | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1986 | Carlton | Dominic Fotia | 18 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1987 | Hawthorn | Grant Williams | 4 (0) | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | Essendon | Brad Fox | 21 (17) | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | Essendon | Gavin Wanganeen | 300 (127) | 202 | 109 | AA: 1992, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2003; Brownlow: 1993; B&F: 2003; Prem: 1993, 2004 | |
| 1990 | West Coast | Shane Porter | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | St Kilda | Rob Malone | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Essendon | Tony Delaney | 76 (15) | 26 | 0 | ||
| 1993 | Brisbane | Chris Scott | 215 | 79 | 14 | Rising Star: 1994; B&F: 1998; Prem: 2001, 2002 | |
| 1994 | West Coast | Shane Sikora | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1995 | Brisbane | Andrew Gowling | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | Fremantle | Heath Black | 192 (138) | 80 | 35 | ||
| 1997 | West Coast | Jaxon Crabb | 19 (15) | 2 | 0 | Sandover: 2005 | |
| 1998 | Essendon | Adam Ramanauskas | 134 | 63 | 14 | Prem: 2000 | |
| 1999 | Port Adelaide | Paul Koulouriotis | 21 (3) | 4 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | Port Adelaide | Shaun Burgoyne | 407 (157) | 302 | 85 | AA: 2006; AA40: 2014, 2015; Prem: 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015 | |
| 2001 | Adelaide | Brent Reilly | 203 | 52 | 4 | AA40: 2012 | |
| 2002 | Richmond | Jay Schulz | 194 (71) | 333 | 18 | AA40: 2014 | |
| 2003 | Fremantle | Ryan Murphy | 48 | 50 | 3 | ||
| 2004 | Richmond | Danny Meyer | 26 (17) | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2005 | Melbourne | Nathan Jones | 302 | 141 | 81 | B&F: 2012, 2013, 2014 | |
| 2006 | Melbourne | James Frawley | 241 (139) | 24 | 9 | AA: 2010; Prem: 2015 | |
| 2007 | Hawthorn | Cyril Rioli | 189 | 275 | 44 | AA: 2012, 2015, 2016; Norm Smith: 2015; AFLCA Young: 2009; Prem: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 | |
| 2008 | Sydney | Lewis Johnston | 10 (2) | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2009 | Carlton | Kane Lucas | 42 | 15 | 1 | ||
| 2010 | Melbourne | Lucas Cook | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | Brisbane | Sam Docherty | 168 (13) | 25 | 25 | AA: 2017; B&F: 2016; AA40: 2016 | |
| 2012 | GWS | Kristian Jaksch | 14 (7) | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Richmond | Ben Lennon | 21 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | Richmond | Corey Ellis | 31 (27) | 7 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | Carlton | Charlie Curnow | 119 | 251 | 34 | AA: 2022, 2023; Coleman: 2022, 2023 | |
| 2016 | North Melbourne | Jy Simpkin | 141 | 54 | 16 | B&F: 2021, 2022 | |
| 2017 | Adelaide | Darcy Fogarty | 88 | 129 | 6 | ||
| 2018 | Port Adelaide | Zak Butters | 102 | 59 | 33 | AA: 2023; AFLCA: 2023; AA40: 2020 | |
| 2019 | Melbourne | Kysaiah Pickett | 92 | 138 | 8 | Prem: 2021 | |
| 2020 | GWS | Tanner Bruhn | 56 (30) | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2021 | Port Adelaide | Josh Sinn | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Brisbane | Jaspa Fletcher | 23 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | GWS | Phoenix Gothard | 0 | 0 | 0 |