Old Scotch forward-midfielder Jordan Mifsud has won the 2026 Shona MacInnes Medal with a record 32 votes, claiming the VAFA's William Buck Premier Women's League Best and Fairest award.
Teammate Mia Cowan finished second with 24 votes, seven clear of third-placed Brooke McKay of Old Geelong, giving Old Scotch the top two placings in the count.
Mifsud polled Macinnes votes in 12 of her 18 matches during the season, including eight best-on-ground performances, and collected coaches' votes in 14 games, according to the VAFA.
She also finished first in the league goalkicking with 52 goals, with Cowan second on 42, as Old Scotch chased a premiership hat-trick in 2026.
Mifsud won her third consecutive VAFA Grand Final Best on Ground medal, having also been best afield in the club's 2024 and 2025 premiership wins. Old Scotch will now target a fourth consecutive premiership in 2027.
"I hadn't won a premiership until we won the first flag three years ago. I'd lost four Grand Finals before that," Mifsud said.
Mifsud grew up in Warrnambool, where her father, Jason Mifsud, was a playing head coach. Jason Mifsud spent time on St Kilda's AFL list, served as an assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs under Rodney Eade, and was playing coach at Beaumaris. His mother is Aboriginal and his father is Maltese.
"I grew up in Warrnambool, and my Dad ended up being a playing head coach, so I always grew up around football," Mifsud said.
In 2013, aged 16, Mifsud was selected for Victoria's first Indigenous team at the Under 18 National Carnival, which won the B-Division national championship.
"We competed in B-Division and won the national championship, even though we'd only come together at the start of that week," she said.
Her first full senior season came in 2017 with Oakleigh Districts, where she won two League Best and Fairest awards. She joined Old Scotch and signed with Collingwood's VFL program in 2021, before moving to Box Hill for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
At Box Hill, Mifsud won two club Best and Fairests, a League Best and Fairest and the VFLW's 2023 Lambert-Pearce Medal. She also spent two years as a supplementary train-on player with Hawthorn but did not secure an AFLW opportunity.
"I just never believed I could kick the ball," she said of her early years in the game.
Mifsud split time between Port Melbourne and Old Scotch in 2024 and 2025, before committing full-time to Old Scotch for the 2026 season. She was also named best on ground for the Big V in a win over the Adelaide Footy League during the year.
Old Scotch triple premiership coach Dean Anderson said Mifsud's influence extended beyond her own performances.
"I found that really rewarding to see Jordy have such an impact on the younger players," Anderson said. "She's inspirational, and she's honest. I have really good, honest conversations with her."
Mifsud played the entire 2026 season with a broken finger on her ball-drop hand, which affected her set-shot kicking.
"I was named after Michael Jordan, so sport is in my blood, and being a winner is as well," she said.
Mifsud also coaches through the Woomera national Indigenous Girls team and is undertaking an AFL coaching program. Old Scotch's women's program was established by Ian Hill, with Andrew Toop now the club's general manager.
Old Scotch begins its bid for a fourth consecutive William Buck Premier Women's premiership in 2027.