Will Ashcroft leads Gary Ayres Award race heading into grand final
Will Ashcroft leads the Gary Ayres Award voting and could win it twice.
Brisbane's Will Ashcroft is on track to win his second Gary Ayres Medal, the award given to the best player through the finals series. Ashcroft picked up six votes in his side's preliminary final win over Hawthorn on Saturday, moving to 14 total votes, one ahead of Fremantle's Luke Jackson.
Two other players earned perfect 10-vote performances: Hawthorn star Nick Watson and Dockers midfielder Caleb Serong. The 2025 winner Ashcroft has earned at least one vote in seven of his 11 career finals, including two best-on-ground performances in Grand Finals.
Grand Final votes carry a 1.5 times weighting.
Why it mattersOnly Dustin Martin has won the award more than once in recent memory, so a second win would put Ashcroft in rare company.
AustraliaAFL fans will be watching to see if the Brisbane star can become only the second player this century to win the finals medal twice.
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