The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals 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, who was league leading goalkicker for five consecutive seasons.

The medal has been presented at various different events, including the preliminary and grand finals, the All-Australian awards ceremony, and club award ceremonies. 's Charlie Curnow is the most recent recipient, kicking 69 goals in 2026.

History The award was first presented in 1981 to Richmond's Michael Roach. At the time, the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL); it would become the AFL in 1990. It was named after John Coleman, a full- forward and Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend who scored 537 goals in 98 games for Essendon 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 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, 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 (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 2023, there have been five four-time medallists, five three-time medallists, and 16 dual medallists.

Recipients

Note: Bold text denotes player currently plays in the AFL + Table of recipients Recipient Year Club Goals 1897 22 1898 31 (2) 1899 31 1900 24 1901 34 1902 30 (2) 1903 33 1904 39 1905 38 1906 45 1907 45 (2) 1908 50 (3) 1909 55 1910 51 1911 46 (2) 1912 56 1913 53 (4) 1914 57 1915 65 (5) 1916 46 (6) 1917 50 1918 35 (7) 1919 47 1920 62 1921 61 1922 54 1923 64 1924 75 1925 70 1926 78 (2) 1927 88 (3) 1928 78 (4) 1929 118 (5) 1930 105 1931 72 1932 109 (6) 1933 108 1934 138 (2) 1935 97 1936 101 1937 64 1938 102 (2) 1939 98 1940 92 1941 88 1942 67 1943 62 (2) 1944 87 (3) 1945 67 1946 63 (4) 1947 97 (2) 1948 86 1949 85 (2) 1950 112 (3) 1951 75 (4) 1952 103 (5) 1953 96 1954 73 1955 77 1956 56 (2) 1957 74 1958 67 1959 69 (2) 1960 67 1961 54 1962 62 1963 69 (2) 1964 68 (3) 1965 56 1966 73 (2) 1967 79 1968 125 (3) 1969 122 (2) 1970 146 (3) 1971 140 1972 130 (2) 1973 84 (4) 1974 91 1975 67 1976 99 (4) 1977 105 1978 118 (2) 1979 91 1980 107 (2) 1981 86 1982 94 1983 106 (2) 1984 102 1985 93 1986 100 1987 117 1988 124 (2) 1989 128 1990 98 (2) 1991 118 (3) 1992 139 1993 124 (2) 1994 113 (3) 1995 118 (3) 1996 114 1997 81 (4) 1998 107 1999 88 2000 94 (2) 2001 96 2002 75 (3) 2003 87 2004 90 (2) 2005 74 2006 84 2007 77 2008 102 (2) 2009 86 2010 78 (2) 2011 71 (2) 2012 65 2013 68 (3) 2014 67 2015 75 (2) 2016 80 (4) 2017 69 (3) 2018 65 2019 67 2020 42 2021 58 2022 64 (2) 2023 78 2024 69 (2) 2025 83 (3) 2026 69

Multiple recipients

+ Table of multiple recipients Player Wins Club(s) Years 7 1907, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1919 6 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1933 5 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 4 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947 / 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974 1968, 1970, 1971, 1977 / 1987, 1991, 1996, 1998 / 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 3 1963, 1964, 1965 1988, 1989, 1992 1993, 1994, 1995 2000, 2001, 2003 2010, 2012, 2018 / 2022, 2023, 2026 2 1897, 1899 / 1900, 1903 1911, 1912 1934, 1935 1938, 1939 / 1942, 1948 1954, 1957 1959, 1960 1972, 1973 1978, 1979 1980, 1981 1983, 1984 2004, 2005 2006, 2009 2015, 2016 / 2019, 2025

Club totals

+ Table key†Club no longer participates in the AFLLGNumber of Leading Goalkicker Medals (1897–1954)C'manNumber of Coleman Medals (1955–present) + Table of club totals Club Medals Years LG C'man Total 19 4 23 1898, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1958, 1972, 1973, 1986 8 10 18 1897, 1899, 1900, 1910, 1921, 1925, 1932, 1948, 1955, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1976, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2020, 2025 8 6 14 1900, 1901, 1923, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1966, 2000, 2001, 2003 0 14 14 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1989, 1992, 2008, 2011, 2013 4 6 10 1906, 1918, 1922, 1931, 1961, 2006, 2009, 2021, 2022, 2023 8 1 9 1897, 1904, 1911, 1912, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 2002 3 5 8 1920, 1937, 1940, 1980, 1981, 2010, 2012, 2018 3 5 8 1934, 1935, 1942, 1996, 1998, 2014, 2017, 2026 2 5 7 1902, 1936, 1956, 1987, 1991, 2004, 2005 1 4 5 1954, 1957, 1978, 1979, 1985 † 2 2 4 1915, 1924, 1983, 1984 1 3 4 1941, 1974, 1982, 1990 — 3 3 1999, 2015, 2016 — 2 2 2019, 2024 — 1 1 1997 — 1 1 2007 † 1 — 1 1913 — 0 0 — — 0 0 — — 0 0 — † — — — —

See also AFL Women's leading goalkicker Ken Farmer Medal – equivalent award in the South Australian National Football League Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal – equivalent award in the Victorian Football League Bernie Naylor Medal – equivalent award in the West Australian Football League

Notes

References