The Actual Medal

1st Nick Daicos Collingwood 8×3 · 2×2 · 0×1 · 19 games 28pts

2nd Bailey Smith Geelong Cats 3×3 · 7×2 · 3×1 · 18 games 26pts

3rd Marcus Bontempelli Western Bulldogs 3×3 · 6×2 · 0×1 · 19 games 21pts

#	Player	Club	3s	2s	1s	Games	Pts
4	Harley Reid	West Coast Eagles	5	2	1	20	20
5	Chad Warner	Sydney Swans	1	6	5	19	20
6	Isaac Heeney	Sydney Swans	4	3	1	17	19
7	Jack Gunston	Hawthorn	4	3	1	13	19
8	Kysaiah Pickett	Melbourne	6	·	·	20	18
9	Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera	St Kilda	5	1	1	15	18
10	Shai Bolton	Fremantle	4	2	2	19	18
11	Patrick Cripps	Carlton	4	2	1	19	17
12	Max Holmes	Geelong Cats	2	5	·	17	16
13	Zak Butters	Port Adelaide	3	2	2	17	15
14	Josh Treacy	Fremantle	1	5	2	20	15
15	Jeremy Cameron	Geelong Cats	3	1	3	16	14
16	Zac Bailey	Brisbane Lions	2	3	2	18	14
17	Jordan Dawson	Adelaide Crows	2	3	2	17	14
18	Wayne Milera	Adelaide Crows	2	3	1	17	13
19	Jye Amiss	Fremantle	4	·	·	20	12
20	Clayton Oliver	GWS GIANTS	2	2	2	19	12

How to read it. Every match, all 44 players on the ground are ranked by contribution rating — both teams, one ladder — and the top three earn 3·2·1. Sum across the season; the most-contributing player wins. No prediction, no opinion — only what was produced.

Best on ground. The highest single-game contribution ratings of 2026.

#	Player	Club	Rd	Rating
1	Logan Morris		R13	3.00
2	Jeremy Cameron		R6	2.95
3	Patrick Voss		R13	2.95
4	Charlie Curnow		R12	2.88
5	Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera		R20	2.71
6	Chad Warner		R12	2.70
7	Isaac Heeney		R12	2.65
8	Jack Gunston		R20	2.63

Round by round. Who topped the field each week.

Rd	Player	Club	Rating
R1	Marcus Bontempelli		2.37
R2	Jason Horne-Francis		2.28
R3	Caleb Serong		2.30
R4	Tom Papley		2.51
R5	Bailey Smith		2.23
R6	Jeremy Cameron		2.95
R7	Charlie Curnow		2.58
R8	Harley Reid		2.17
R9	Will Hayward		1.89
R10	Harley Reid		2.48
R11	Jake Stringer		2.38
R12	Charlie Curnow		2.88
R13	Logan Morris		3.00
R14	Jordan Dawson		2.17
R15	Ben Long		2.30
R16	Chad Warner		2.29
R17	Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera		2.43
R18	Shai Bolton		2.57
R19	Jarman Impey		2.03
R20	Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera		2.71
R21	Riley Thilthorpe		2.28

Club	Player	Games	Avg
St Kilda	Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera	15	1.66
Sydney Swans	Chad Warner	19	1.60
Geelong Cats	Bailey Smith	18	1.57
Hawthorn	Jack Gunston	13	1.49
Collingwood	Nick Daicos	19	1.49
Western Bulldogs	Marcus Bontempelli	19	1.39
Fremantle	Shai Bolton	19	1.36
West Coast Eagles	Harley Reid	20	1.34
Melbourne	Jake Bowey	12	1.33
Adelaide Crows	Jordan Dawson	17	1.31
GWS GIANTS	Lachie Ash	19	1.30
Carlton	Patrick Cripps	19	1.29
Port Adelaide	Zak Butters	17	1.29
Gold Coast SUNS	Christian Petracca	17	1.29
Brisbane Lions	Zac Bailey	18	1.26
North Melbourne	Harry Sheezel	20	1.20
Richmond	Tim Taranto	18	0.90
Essendon	Archie Roberts	18	0.89

Each club’s highest average contribution rating (minimum six games), on the current 2026 list — so a player sits with the club he plays for now. The medal rewards peak, match-winning games; the club average rewards turning up every week. The two lists disagree on purpose.