Brisbane foundation player Emily Bates’ already decorated AFLW career has been further enhanced, winning the AFLW Players’ Most Valuable Player Award, proudly presented by Snaffle, for her outstanding 2022 campaign.
Fresh from her AFLW best and fairest victory, the 26-year-old was voted the MVP by her peers with 286 votes.
Bates now joins Michael Voss (2002 and 2003) and Lachie Neale (2020) as Brisbane players to win an MVP trophy, while Paul Roos (1986) also claimed the title while playing for Fitzroy.
The Brisbane midfielder, who became one of the first players to reach 50 AFLW games this season, averaged 21 disposals, 11 contested possessions, 5.6 clearances and seven tackles per game in 2022.
Bates was presented with her MVP trophy at a special in-person event in St Kilda and via a broadcast with Channel 7 program Front Bar on Wednesday night.
In a tribute piece on the AFL Players’ website, Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich praised Bates’ efforts over a long period of time.
“When Emily started in the competition, she was already accomplished but perhaps in the shadows of some of the bigger names and Victorian-based midfielders that were in the competition from the get-go,” Starcevich said.
“Now that she’s in her mid-20s, had five or so pre-seasons, played 53 games – she’s now got real status in the comp. I think the awards that she’s getting this season are now starting to cement her right at the top, which is fantastic for her.”
Also awarded as part of the celebrations on Wednesday were the Most Courageous Player award to Kirsty Lamb (Western Bulldogs), Best Captain to Daisy Pearce (Melbourne) and Best First Year Player to Charlie Rowbottom (Gold Coast), proudly presented by Our Watch, The Diamond Guys and KPMG, respectively.
Consistent with the process to crown the male MVP, known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFLPA’s AFLW members voted to decide the player worthiest of the AFLW Players’ MVP Award (details below).
MVP Voting Process
MVP voting is a two-stage process, beginning with each player voting for the three teammates they consider to have been the most valuable this season. Each club’s votes are then tallied to form a nomination list, with 42 players across the 14 teams nominated for the award.
In the second round of voting, all players vote for their MVP on a 3, 2, 1 basis from the nominees of the 13 other clubs. The votes are tallied and the player with the highest score wins the honour of MVP. Players cannot vote for their own teammates in stage two of the process.
A similar process is followed for Best First-Year Player and Most Courageous, with every captain automatically nominated for the Best Captain Award.
