Norm Smith Medal: How voting works for AFL Grand Final medal — can there be two winners?

One of football's most prestigious individual honours, the Norm Smith Medal is an award given to the player who is judged to be best on ground during an AFL Grand Final.

Voted by an independent panel of football experts, the Medal was introduced in 1979 to honour former Melbourne icon Norm Smith.

Smith played 227 games (210 - Melbourne, 17 - Fitzroy) Melbourne and coached a total of 452 matches (310 - Melbourne, 87 - South Melbourne, 55 - Fitzroy).

During his time at the Demons, Smith took the club to six premierships as coach between 1955-1964.

Smith was named coach of the AFL Team of the Century and was elevated to Legend Status in 2007, writes AFL.com.au.

Norm Smith Medal voting system

The voting for this prestigious award usually comprises five football experts (past players, media personalities, journalists) who give a 3-2-1 to the players they deem best afield.

Of those five, one is designated as panel chair, whose votes will decide the winner if there's a tie after two rounds of countbacks.

In 2024, Jack Riewoldt (chair) leads a panel of five, including AFL legends Shaun Burgoyne and Rory Sloane, as well as journalists Riley Beveridge and Anna Harrington.

What happens if there's a tie?

If two players are tied for votes, a countback will occur.

The player with the higher number of three-votes will win. If that's also tied then:

The player with the higher number of two-votes will win. If that's tied then:

The votes of the chairperson will determine the winner.

Has there been a tie before?

In the 2009 grand final, Geelong were victorious over St Kilda by 12 points in a famous game.

Paul Chapman (Geelong) and Jason Gram (St Kilda) were tied with nine votes apiece, but the Norm Smith was awarded to Chapman on a countback.

Who is presenting the Norm Smith Medal in 2024?

Andrew Embley, who won the Norm Smith Medal for West Coast back in 2006, will present the 2024 winner with the medal.

Past winners