By now, you’d be aware that we do things a little differently at The Mongrel Punt.
While each of us has our own opinion on a player, team, or award, it is important that we take into account all points of view when deciding something like our player of the year. I have my own ideas about whom it should be, but so does every person who writes for us.
As such, each writer onboard this year was given an equal opportunity to feed into this award.
The system is as follows.
Players are ranked from 1-10, with first being worth ten points, second with nine points, and so on.
Each set of ten players must include at least one ruckman, two defenders, and two forwards, meaning that we get a great spread of players across all positions. If someone feels like having three defenders, then no probs, but unlike every single other award out there, there is a hard limit on the number of midfielders you can have in your top ten. We’re not the All-Australian selectors – we are not trying to shoehorn midfielders in because we’re too bloody weak to leave them out.
What we end up with is a points-based system where we find our player of the year amongst the responses of ten contributors.
This year, 22 players received votes, again reflecting just how differently we all see the game, as a whole.
Here are the winners from previous seasons.
2018 – Max Gawn
2019 – Patrick Dangerfield
2020 – Lachie Neale
2021 – Ollie Wines
2022 – Lachie Neale
2023 – Marcus Bontempelli
2024 – Isaac Heeney/Marcus Bontempelli
Dirty bloody midfielders… I concoct a way where I level the playing field, and they still win!
Anyway, after compiling all the numbers, here are our top ten for the season.
10 – RILEY THILTHORPE – 31 PTS
9 – HUGH MCCLUGGAGE – 35
8 – NASIAH WANGANEEN-MILERA – 36
7 – MAX GAWN – 39
6 – NICK DAICOS – 41
5 – HARRIS ANDREWS – 48 (One first-place vote)
4 – JEREMY CAMERON – 54 (One first-place vote)
3 – BAILEY SMITH – 56
2 – NOAH ANDERSON – 57 (two first-place votes)
1 – JORDAN DAWSON – 90 (six first-place votes)
Congratulations to the winner of the 2025 Mongrel Punt Most Valuable Player, Jordan Dawson – his play resonated with the Mongrel staff, as he received six first place votes out of ten writers who submitted their list. Nobody had him below fifth in their responses.
Of the highest possible score of 100 points, it speaks volumes that Dawson scored 90 overall. His contribution to the Crows, and the way he led this team all season, often stepping up to take control in moments when his team needed him, demonstrates that he has made the step from star to superstar of the game.
As an aside, remember earlier this season when Champion Data tried to convince people that he wasn’t that good a kick?
I’d like to give them a kick, sometimes… right up the arse. Dawson’s booming boot breaks down defences, often clearing the traffic and allowing quick thinking, and strong marking forwards to get back onto the footy and set up scoring opportunities.
I can remember watching him at the Swans – and you are free to go back into our archives and search for proof of this – and thinking that he had so much more to give than we were seeing. He was playing half-back and wing, often alternating with Justin McInerney. However, Dawson was a class above, and with his move to the Crows, it quickly became apparent that he was about to break out. As a midfielder who can push forward and challenge in the air, or set sail from outside 50 with ease, Dawson has become a midfield weapon few can compare to.
The AFLPA best captain of 2025, Dawson should have been named the All-Australian captain, as well, but the selectors have opted to make that title something like a career-achievement award in recent seasons. That’s what the Hall of Fame is for, people. Stick to naming the best captain FOR THE SEASON as the All-Australian captain, and in 2025, the best captain was Jordan Dawson.
He doubles up with our own Mongrel MVP award this year, as he leads his Crows into finals.
Congrats to Jordan Dawson on a spectacular season to date, and as we head toward week one of September action, you just get the feeling that he may have a fair bit more to give this year.
And just for a bit of fun – and these votes did not count in the overall totals for the players, Mrs Mongrel requested… or demanded, that she also be able to submit a list.
She refused to put them in order, except for the first player, who also appears on the list twice for some reason, but let’s see what we can make of this.
THE WINNER
1 – MATT ROWELL
THE OTHERS
THE BIG, WOOLLY WOLF LOOKING MAN
THE GUY FROM THE BULLDOGS WITH THE HELMET
WIZARD
DERMOTT
CHOL
STEWIE DEW
THE TROUBLED ONE AT GEELONG
MATT ROWELL AGAIN
Yes, so you can see why I didn’t want to add her votes to the overall mix.
I am pretty certain the woolly-looking wolfman is Riley Thilthorpe, although she only said I should know who she is talking about.
She wouldn’t hear that Caleb Daniel no longer plays for the Dogs, or that Stewie Dew is no longer at the Suns, even though it was clear that Damien Hardwick now coaches them, and we’ve even talked about this.
She likes Chol because he is very shiny, and when pressed about whom the troubled one at Geelong was, she simply answered that he has acreage. That certainly narrows it down.
Anyway, there we go – I did as requested. Congrats to Matt Rowell, I guess.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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