The Alex Jesaulenko Medal refers to three unrelated medals in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

, all named in honour of

Alex Jesaulenko Oleksandr "Alex" Jesaulenko ( ; uk, Олександр Васильович Єсауленко, Oleksandr Vasiliovych Yesaulenko, ; born 2 August 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and t ...

, a legend in the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. The medals are currently awarded annually to the best player in the grand final of the AFL Canberra league and to the winner of the

Mark of the Year The annual Australian Football League Mark of the Year competition (currently also known as the Four'N Twenty AFL Mark of the Year) is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark. A mark is the action of a player cleanly catchin ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

. In the 1990s a medal of the same name was awarded to the best player for ''The Allies'' representative team in

State Of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

football.

AFL Canberra

Jesaulenko started his football career with the

Eastlake Football Club The Canberra Demons (formerly known as the Eastlake Football Club) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Austral ...

in the

Canberra Australian National Football League AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales). It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...

. In recognition of his achievements in the VFL the league awards the Alex Jesaulenko Medal to the best player in the Grand Final each year. In 2008 the award was won by Nicholas Smith.

Mark of the Year

In recent years the AFL has awarded the Alex Jesaulenko Medal to the winner of the

Lloyd, Davis make their mark
(9 October 2008) in recognition of Jesaulenko's famous mark in the 1970 VFL Grand Final, one of the most recognisable

spectacular mark A spectacular mark (also known as a specky, speckie, speccy, screamer or hanger) is a mark (or catch) in Australian rules football that typically involves a player jumping up on the back of another player. The spectacular mark has become a much ...

s of all time.

State of Origin

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

football, the medal was awarded to the best player on the ground for ''The Allies'' representative team. It was only awarded from 1995 to 1998, when The Allies team, consisting of players not from the major football states of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. It honoured Jesaulenko's Canberra origins being outside of the major Australian football states and hence would have qualified to play for ''The Allies'' had the concept existed during his career.

Winners

*1995 -

Ryan O'Connor Ryan O'Connor (born 27 June 1974) is a former Australian rules football player. He is best known for playing for the Essendon Bombers and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League. He then continued his career in the SANFL with the Po ...

*1996 - Matthew Richardson *1997 -

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

*1998 -

Shane Crawford Shane Barry Crawford (born 9 September 1974) is a former Australian rules football player, television media personality and author. He played 305 senior games for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and won the ...

References

{{Alex Jesaulenko Medal Australian Football League awards Australian rules football awards