The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most prolific goalkickers in the league's history. The medal has been presented at various different events, including the

preliminary Preliminary may refer to: * Preliminary internships * Preliminary English Test * Preliminary finals * Preliminary hearing * Preliminary Notice See also * Preliminary examination (disambiguation) {{disambig ...

and

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

s, the

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

awards ceremony, and club award ceremonies. Carlton's

Charlie Curnow Charles Curnow (born 3 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Curnow received a nomination for the 2017 AFL Rising Star award in round 16 of the ...

is the most recent recipient, kicking 64 goals in 2022.

History

The award was first presented in 1981 to Richmond's

Michael Roach Michael Roach (born December 17, 1952) is an American businessman, spiritual leader, and former Buddhist monk and scholar who has started a number of businesses and organizations, written books inspired by Buddhism, and translated Tibetan Buddhis ...

; At the time, the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL); it would become the AFL in

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. It was named after John Coleman, a

full-forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

and Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend who scored 537 goals in 98 games for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

between 1949 and 1954. In September 2001, the AFL decided to recognise all leading goalkickers prior to Roach's victory; leaders from 1955—the year after Coleman's last match—to 1980 were named retrospective Coleman Medallists, while winners prior to 1955 were named Leading Goalkicker Medallists. Medals were presented to winners or their surviving relatives in a ceremony at

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between ...

in July 2004. Jack Collins, who had been a leading advocate for naming the award after Coleman and honouring leading goalkickers prior to 1981, was the only player to receive both a Coleman and a Leading Goalkicker Medal. Upon receiving the accolades, he was "bloody angry" and complained to the

AFL Commission The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 198 ...

, as he perceived the Leading Goalkicker Medal to be an inferior award. Collingwood is the club most frequently represented by Coleman and Leading Goalkicker Medallists: its players have won on 23 occasions, six clear of Geelong's tally of 17. The majority of Collingwood's awards were contributed by

Dick Lee Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Early life Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...

(7) and Gordon Coventry (6), which stand as the most and second-most in league history. Coleman himself won the Leading Goalkicker Medals in all five of his complete VFL seasons to have the third-most. As of 2021, there have been five four-time medallists, five three-time medallists, and 15 dual medallists.

Recipients

Multiple recipients

Club totals

Notes

References

{{featured list Australian Football League awards Awards established in 1981 1981 establishments in Australia Australian rules football-related lists