Presented to the player judged, by an independent panel of football experts, to be best on ground in the Grand Final.
Norm Smith was a famous Melbourne Football Club identity who was also associated with Fitzroy and South Melbourne at senior level. Smith played a total of 227 games with Melbourne and Fitzroy and coached in a total of 452 games with Melbourne (310), Fitzroy (55) and South Melbourne (87).
During his 310-game tenure coaching Melbourne, he took the club into every Grand Final between 1954 and 1960 and won six premierships in the years 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964. He played from 1935 to 1950, and coached at senior level every year between 1949 and 1972, except 1968. Smith died in 1973, aged 57.
| YEAR | PLAYER (Club) |
| 1979 | Wayne Harmes (Carlton) |
| 1980 | Kevin Bartlett (Richmond) |
| 1981 | Bruce Doull (Carlton) |
| 1982 | Maurice Rioli (Richmond) |
| 1983 | Colin Robertson (Hawthorn) |
| 1984 | Billy Duckworth (Essendon) |
| 1985 | Simon Madden (Essendon) |
| 1986 | Gary Ayres (Hawthorn) |
| 1987 | David Rhys-Jones (Carlton) |
| 1988 | Gary Ayres (Hawthorn) |
| 1989 | Gary Ablett (Geelong) |
| 1990 | Tony Shaw (Collingwood) |
| 1991 | Paul Dear (Hawthorn) |
| 1992 | Peter Matera (West Coast Eagles) |
| 1993 | Michael Long (Essendon) |
| 1994 | Dean Kemp (West Coast Eagles) |
| 1995 | Greg Williams (Carlton) |
| 1996 | Glenn Archer (kangaroos) |
| 1997 | Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) |
| 1998 | Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) |
| 1999 | Shannon Grant (Kangaroos) |
| 2000 | James Hird (Essendon) |
| 2001 | Shaun Hart (Brisbane) |
| 2002 | Nathan Buckley (Collingwood) |
| 2003 | Simon Black (Brisbane) |
| 2004 | Byron Pickett (Port Adelaide) |
| 2005 | Chris Judd (West Coast Eagles) |
| 2006 | Andrew Embley (West Coast Eagles) |
| 2007 | Steve Johnson (Geelong) |