University Blacks ruck Sam Conway and St Kevin's Old Boys ruck Billy Coates were crowned joint winners of the William Buck Premier Men's best and fairest, the Woodrow Medal, after finishing tied on 17 votes at the VAFA's 2026 Awards Night on Wednesday.
The result, announced before 350 guests at the San Remo Ballroom, is only the eighth tie in the Woodrow Medal's 100-year history and the first since Harry Hill (Old Brighton) and Gus Borthwick (Old Melburnians) shared the award in 2022.
Uni Blues forward James Stewart polled the most votes in the count with 23, but was ruled ineligible after being suspended during the season. Old Scotch ruck Will Clark led the tally by a single vote after round 16, before Conway and Coates moved clear in round 17. None of the three players polled in the final round, leaving Conway and Coates deadlocked on 17 apiece.
Conway, 27, led the competition in hit-outs and hit-outs to advantage, averaging 19 disposals, including 16 contested, eight clearances and 59 hit-outs a game. He polled in nine of his 18 matches, with best-on-ground performances against Old Scotch in round nine and Caulfield Grammarians in round 13. It is University Blacks' fifth Woodrow Medal and the club's first since Bede Mahon won in 2017.
Coates, 33, is St Kevin's first-ever Woodrow Medallist. He first represented the club in 2012. He led the league in contested possessions and clearances, finishing 27 contested possessions clear of Conway in second place, and averaged 22 disposals, including 18 contested, 54 hit-outs and 10 clearances a game, the highest-ranked Premier Data player in the competition. Coates polled in eight of his 18 games, with three best-on-ground performances in rounds 11, 12 and 17.
Between them, Conway and Coates topped the league in contested possessions, clearances, hit-outs, hit-outs to advantage and Premier Data ranking points for the season.
In the VAFA Women's competition, Old Scotch forward Jordan Mifsud won the Shona MacInnes Medal with an all-time record 32 votes, surpassing the previous mark of 31 set by Kew's Dakota Villiva in 2024.
Mifsud's closest rival was Old Scotch teammate and reigning medallist Mia Cowan, who trailed by five votes entering the penultimate round. Mifsud's lead became unassailable after she polled three votes in Old Scotch's round 17 win over Caulfield Grammarians.
Mifsud, 29, in her sixth season with Old Scotch, polled votes in 12 of her 18 matches and was best afield eight times, including in three of the last four rounds. She finished as the competition's leading goalkicker with 52 goals and was named best afield in the Big V's win over the Adelaide Footy League. Mifsud also won her third straight premiership with Old Scotch in 2026.
Mifsud and Cowan are the first players from the same club to win back-to-back MacInnes Medals. Both will feature when Old Scotch, known as the Stars, chase a fourth consecutive flag in 2027.