The John Cahill Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Port Adelaide Football Club throughout the Australian Football League (AFL) season. The Port Adelaide Football Club was established in 1870 and became a founding member of the South Australian Football Association (SAFA), later known as the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), in 1877. The club joined the AFL in 1997, and holds the unique status of being the only pre-existing non-Victorian club to have entered the AFL from another league.
A best and fairest award has been awarded by the club since 1870, with the winners of the award appearing on the club's honour board. Prior to the club's entry to the AFL, the award was known as the Port Adelaide Best and Fairest. After the club's entry to the AFL the award was renamed in honour of John Cahill, who coached or played in 14 premierships in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and was the club's inaugural AFL coach.
The inaugural winner of the club's best and fairest award was John Wald in 1870, and the inaugural winner of the AFL best and fairest was Darren Mead in 1997. Russell Ebert has the record for most best and fairest wins, winning on six occasions in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1981, whilst Kane Cornes and Warren Tredrea hold the record for most John Cahill Medals won, both with four. There have been four players to win the award three consecutive times; Thomas Smith (1877–1879), Harry Phillips (1891–1893), Robbie Gray (2014–2016) and Zak Butters (2023–2025).
As of 2025, the voting system for the medal is handled by a panel of three coaching staff members. For each match, the senior coach, club's general manager, and respective line coach each award players between 0 and 5 votes based on their performances, with a maximum of 15 votes attainable.. The club changed to this voting system in 2013, with minor tweaks in 2019 and 2023 to adjust how many coaches award votes. It has previously changed the best and fairest voting system in 2011 and 1997.
Recipients Section Legend^Denotes current player+Player won Magarey Medal in same season#Player won Brownlow Medal in same season✪Player won Ken Farmer Medal in same season (2)Repeat winner of award
John Cahill Medal - Pre-AFLSeasonBest and fairestRef 1870 — 1871 — 1872 — 1873 — 1874 — 1875 — 1876 — 1877 — 1878 (2) — 1879 (3) — 1880 — 1881 (2) — 1882 — 1883 — 1884 — — 1885 — 1886 — 1887 — 1888 — 1889 — 1890 (2) — 1891 (2) — 1892 (3) — 1893 — (4) 1894 — 1895 — 1896 — 1897 — 1898 — 1899 + — 1900 — 1901 — 1902 — 1903 — 1904 (2) — 1905 (2) — 1906 (2) — 1907 + — 1908 — 1909 (2) — 1910 + — 1911 — 1912 (2) — 1913 — 1914 + — 1915 (2) — 1916 — 1917 — 1918 — 1919 (2) — 1920 — 1921 + (2) — 1922 — 1923 — 1924 (2) — 1925 + — 1926 — 1927 — 1928 (3) — 1929 — 1930 — 1931 — 1932 (2) — 1933 — 1934 — 1935 (2) — 1936 (2) — 1937 — 1938 + (2) — 1939 — 1940 — 1941 — 1942 — 1943 — 1944 — 1945 + (3) — 1946 — 1947 (4) — 1948 — 1949 (2) — 1950 — 1951 (3) — 1952 — 1953 — 1954 — 1955 (2) — 1956 — 1957 — 1958 — 1959 (2) — 1960 (2) — 1961 — 1962 — 1963 (3) — 1964 (2) — 1965 (4) — 1966 — 1967 (3) — 1968 (2) — 1969 (4) — 1970 (3) — 1971 + — 1972 (2) — 1973 (4) — 1974 + (3) — 1975 + — 1976 + (4) — 1977 (5) — 1978 — 1979 — 1980 (2) — 1981 (6) — 1982 — 1983 (3) — 1984 (2) — 1985 (3) — 1986 — 1987 — 1988 — 1989 — 1990 + ✪ — 1991 — 1992 + — 1993 — 1994 — 1995 — 1996 ✪ (2) —
John Cahill Medal - AFL EraSeasonBest and fairestVotesRunner UpVotesRef 1997 — — 1998 — — 1999 — — 2000 — — 2001 164 159 2002 150 (2) 145 2003 224 (3) 201 2004 (2) 236 220 2005 (3) 176 (2) 173 2006 157 148 2007 225 196 2008 (2) 135 115 2009 (4) 103 (3) 100 2010 (3) 134 125 2011 13 10 2012 (4) 18 16 2013 284 266 2014 398 (2) 255 2015 (2) 243 230 2016 (3) 230 ^ 206 2017 241 234 2018 179 162 ^ (2) 2019 (2) 179 ^ 168 2020 ^ 159 (3) 136 2021 ^ # 229 (4) 167 2022 ^ 132 (5) 102 2023 ^ 190 ^ 170 2024 ^ (2) 159 ^ 152 2025 ^ (3) 134 ^ 118 2026 ^ 88 ^ 83
Multiple winners ^Denotes current player
RecipientsMedalsSeasons 6 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981 4 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 1958, 1959, 1963, 1965 1888, 1891, 1892, 1893 1961, 1964, 1967, 1969 1937, 1938, 1945, 1947 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009^ 3 2023, 2024, 2025 1982, 1984, 1985 1978, 1980, 1983 1923, 1924, 1928 2014, 2015, 2016 1948, 1949, 1951 1877, 1888, 1889 2 1920, 1921 1914, 1919 2011, 2019 1902, 1904 1933, 1935 1908, 1909 1913, 1915 1886, 1890 1957, 1960 1990, 1996 1934, 1936 1929, 1932 1911, 1912 1900, 1905 1880, 1881 1901, 1906 1950, 1955
Notes
References