Coleman Medal Winners: Every Leading Goalkicker Since 1897

Who has won the most Coleman Medals? Collingwood’s Dick Lee led the league in goals a record seven times. Here is every VFL/AFL leading goalkicker since 1897, from Eddy James to Charlie Curnow, with goal tallies, records and the clubs with the most winners.

Charlie Curnow is the reigning Coleman medallist after topping the goalkicking with 69 goals in his first season at Sydney. It was his third Coleman Medal after back-to-back wins for Carlton in 2022 and 2023, and he became the first player to win it in his first year at a new club since Lance Franklin, also with the Swans, in 2014.

Brisbane’s Logan Morris ran second on 63 after kicking eight goals against Collingwood in the final round. Gold Coast’s Ben King (60), Hawthorn’s Jack Gunston (59) and Fremantle’s Jye Amiss (58) completed the top five, with Hawthorn’s Nick Watson sixth on 55.

That top six has already been reshuffled. King joined Hawthorn as a restricted free agent after Gold Coast chose not to match the Hawks’ offer, so three of the competition’s six leading goalkickers from 2026 will now wear brown and gold. The 2024 Coleman medallist, Jesse Hogan, was traded from GWS to Collingwood on the opening day of the trade period.

The goalkicker market is still moving this week. Jake Stringer, who kicked 48 goals for GWS in 2026, has agreed terms with St Kilda as a delisted free agent, and the delisted free agency period runs until 5pm AEDT on Friday 6 November.

The Coleman Medal goes to the player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season, so finals goals do not count. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, who kicked 537 goals in 98 games from 1949 to 1954, and it was first presented in 1981 to Richmond’s Michael Roach.

In 2001 the AFL decided to honour every leading goalkicker before 1981. The leaders from 1955 to 1980 became retrospective Coleman medallists, and those from 1897 to 1954 received the Leading Goalkicker Medal. Both sets of winners are included in the honour roll below, with home-and-away tallies checked against the AFL’s Coleman Medal honour roll and AFL Tables.

Most Coleman Medals by player

7: Dick Lee (Collingwood, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1919)
6: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood, 1926 to 1930, 1933)
5: John Coleman (Essendon, 1949 to 1953)
4: Fred Fanning (Melbourne), Doug Wade (Geelong and North Melbourne), Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), Tony Lockett (St Kilda and Sydney) and Lance Franklin (Hawthorn and Sydney)
3: John Peck (Hawthorn), Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn), Gary Ablett Sr (Geelong), Matthew Lloyd (Essendon), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond) and Charlie Curnow (Carlton and Sydney)
2: Eddy James, Teddy Lockwood, Harry Brereton, Bob Pratt, Ron Todd, Lindsay White, Jack Collins, Ron Evans, Peter McKenna, Kelvin Templeton, Michael Roach, Bernie Quinlan, Fraser Gehrig, Brendan Fevola, Josh Kennedy and Jeremy Cameron

Most Coleman Medals by club

Collingwood: 23
Geelong: 18
Essendon: 14
Hawthorn: 14
Carlton: 10
Melbourne: 9
Richmond: 8
South Melbourne/Sydney: 8
St Kilda: 7
Footscray/Western Bulldogs: 5
Fitzroy: 4
North Melbourne: 4
West Coast: 3
Greater Western Sydney: 2
Adelaide, Brisbane Lions and University: 1 each
Fremantle, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide: yet to produce a winner

Those tallies include the two shared awards, in 1897 and 1900. Hawthorn has had the most winners since 1955, with 14 Coleman Medals shared between Peck, Hudson, Leigh Matthews, Dunstall, Franklin and Jarryd Roughead.

Coleman Medal records

Most goals in a home-and-away season: 146, Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), 1970
Most goals in a season including finals: 150, Bob Pratt (South Melbourne) in 1934 and Peter Hudson in 1971
Last player to kick 100 goals in a season: Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), with 102 home-and-away goals and 113 in total in 2008
Lowest winning tally since 1955: 42, Tom Hawkins (Geelong), in 2020, when the season was cut to 17 rounds with shorter quarters
Most consecutive wins: 5, Gordon Coventry (1926 to 1930) and John Coleman (1949 to 1953)
Youngest Coleman medallist: John Longmire (North Melbourne), aged 19, in 1990
Won at two clubs: Teddy Lockwood, Lindsay White, Doug Wade, Tony Lockett, Lance Franklin, Jeremy Cameron and Charlie Curnow
Only player to receive both a Coleman Medal and a Leading Goalkicker Medal: Jack Collins (Footscray), 1954 and 1957

Franklin’s 2008 season remains the last time anyone reached the ton. Since then the highest home-and-away tally has been Brendan Fevola’s 86 in 2009, with Jeremy Cameron’s 83 for Geelong in 2025 the best of the past decade.

Coleman Medal winners: 2020s

2026: Charlie Curnow (Sydney), 69 goals
2025: Jeremy Cameron (Geelong), 83 goals
2024: Jesse Hogan (Greater Western Sydney), 69 goals (77 including finals)
2023: Charlie Curnow (Carlton), 78 goals
2022: Charlie Curnow (Carlton), 64 goals
2021: Harry McKay (Carlton), 58 goals
2020: Tom Hawkins (Geelong), 42 goals (17-round season)

Coleman Medal winners: 2010s

2019: Jeremy Cameron (Greater Western Sydney), 67 goals
2018: Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), 65 goals
2017: Lance Franklin (Sydney), 69 goals
2016: Josh Kennedy (West Coast), 80 goals
2015: Josh Kennedy (West Coast), 75 goals
2014: Lance Franklin (Sydney), 67 goals
2013: Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn), 68 goals
2012: Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), 65 goals
2011: Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), 71 goals
2010: Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), 78 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 2000s

2009: Brendan Fevola (Carlton), 86 goals
2008: Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), 102 goals
2007: Jonathan Brown (Brisbane Lions), 77 goals
2006: Brendan Fevola (Carlton), 84 goals
2005: Fraser Gehrig (St Kilda), 74 goals
2004: Fraser Gehrig (St Kilda), 90 goals (103 including finals)
2003: Matthew Lloyd (Essendon), 87 goals
2002: David Neitz (Melbourne), 75 goals
2001: Matthew Lloyd (Essendon), 96 goals
2000: Matthew Lloyd (Essendon), 94 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 1990s

1999: Scott Cummings (West Coast), 88 goals
1998: Tony Lockett (Sydney), 107 goals
1997: Tony Modra (Adelaide), 81 goals
1996: Tony Lockett (Sydney), 114 goals
1995: Gary Ablett Sr (Geelong), 118 goals
1994: Gary Ablett Sr (Geelong), 113 goals
1993: Gary Ablett Sr (Geelong), 124 goals
1992: Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn), 139 goals
1991: Tony Lockett (St Kilda), 118 goals
1990: John Longmire (North Melbourne), 98 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 1980s

1989: Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn), 128 goals
1988: Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn), 124 goals
1987: Tony Lockett (St Kilda), 117 goals
1986: Brian Taylor (Collingwood), 100 goals
1985: Simon Beasley (Footscray), 93 goals
1984: Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy), 102 goals
1983: Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy), 106 goals
1982: Malcolm Blight (North Melbourne), 94 goals
1981: Michael Roach (Richmond), 86 goals (the first Coleman Medal presented)
1980: Michael Roach (Richmond), 107 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 1970s

1979: Kelvin Templeton (Footscray), 91 goals
1978: Kelvin Templeton (Footscray), 118 goals
1977: Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), 99 goals (some honour rolls, including the AFL’s, list 105)
1976: Larry Donohue (Geelong), 99 goals
1975: Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn), 67 goals
1974: Doug Wade (North Melbourne), 91 goals
1973: Peter McKenna (Collingwood), 84 goals
1972: Peter McKenna (Collingwood), 130 goals
1971: Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), 140 goals
1970: Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), 146 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 1960s

1969: Doug Wade (Geelong), 122 goals
1968: Peter Hudson (Hawthorn), 125 goals
1967: Doug Wade (Geelong), 79 goals
1966: Ted Fordham (Essendon), 73 goals
1965: John Peck (Hawthorn), 56 goals
1964: John Peck (Hawthorn), 68 goals
1963: John Peck (Hawthorn), 69 goals
1962: Doug Wade (Geelong), 62 goals
1961: Tom Carroll (Carlton), 54 goals
1960: Ron Evans (Essendon), 67 goals

Coleman Medal winners: 1955 to 1959

1959: Ron Evans (Essendon), 69 goals
1958: Ian Brewer (Collingwood), 67 goals
1957: Jack Collins (Footscray), 74 goals
1956: Bill Young (St Kilda), 56 goals
1955: Noel Rayson (Geelong), 77 goals

Leading Goalkicker Medal winners: 1940 to 1954

1954: Jack Collins (Footscray), 73 goals
1953: John Coleman (Essendon), 96 goals
1952: John Coleman (Essendon), 103 goals
1951: John Coleman (Essendon), 75 goals
1950: John Coleman (Essendon), 112 goals
1949: John Coleman (Essendon), 85 goals
1948: Lindsay White (Geelong), 86 goals
1947: Fred Fanning (Melbourne), 97 goals
1946: Des Fothergill (Collingwood), 63 goals
1945: Fred Fanning (Melbourne), 67 goals
1944: Fred Fanning (Melbourne), 87 goals
1943: Fred Fanning (Melbourne), 62 goals
1942: Lindsay White (South Melbourne), 67 goals
1941: Sel Murray (North Melbourne), 88 goals
1940: Jack Titus (Richmond), 92 goals

Leading Goalkicker Medal winners: 1920 to 1939

1939: Ron Todd (Collingwood), 98 goals
1938: Ron Todd (Collingwood), 102 goals
1937: Dick Harris (Richmond), 64 goals
1936: Bill Mohr (St Kilda), 101 goals
1935: Bob Pratt (South Melbourne), 97 goals
1934: Bob Pratt (South Melbourne), 138 goals
1933: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 108 goals
1932: George Moloney (Geelong), 109 goals
1931: Harry Vallence (Carlton), 72 goals
1930: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 105 goals
1929: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 118 goals
1928: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 78 goals
1927: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 88 goals
1926: Gordon Coventry (Collingwood), 78 goals
1925: Lloyd Hagger (Geelong), 70 goals
1924: Jack Moriarty (Fitzroy), 75 goals
1923: Greg Stockdale (Essendon), 64 goals
1922: Horrie Clover (Carlton), 54 goals
1921: Cliff Rankin (Geelong), 61 goals
1920: George Bayliss (Richmond), 62 goals

Leading Goalkicker Medal winners: 1897 to 1919

1919: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 47 goals
1918: Ern Cowley (Carlton), 35 goals
1917: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 50 goals
1916: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 46 goals
1915: Jimmy Freake (Fitzroy), 65 goals
1914: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 57 goals
1913: Roy Park (University), 53 goals
1912: Harry Brereton (Melbourne), 56 goals
1911: Harry Brereton (Melbourne), 46 goals
1910: Percy Martini (Geelong), 51 goals
1909: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 55 goals
1908: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 50 goals
1907: Dick Lee (Collingwood), 45 goals
1906: Mick Grace (Carlton), 45 goals
1905: Charlie Pannam (Collingwood), 38 goals
1904: Vince Coutie (Melbourne), 39 goals
1903: Teddy Lockwood (Collingwood), 33 goals
1902: Charlie Baker (St Kilda), 30 goals
1901: Fred Hiskins (Essendon), 34 goals
1900: Teddy Lockwood (Geelong) and Albert Thurgood (Essendon), 24 goals each
1899: Eddy James (Geelong), 31 goals
1898: Archie Smith (Collingwood), 31 goals
1897: Eddy James (Geelong) and Jack Leith (Melbourne), 22 goals each

Who will win the 2027 Coleman Medal?

Curnow will start 2027 chasing a fourth medal, which would put him level with Franklin, Lockett, Hudson, Wade and Fanning. Morris will be pushing for his first, while King, Gunston and Watson will be sharing the footy in a stacked Hawthorn forward line. Before the season starts, catch up on every club’s delisted players and every VFL/AFL premiership winner since 1897. For all the latest footy news, head to TSB’s AFL hub or download the free TSB app on iPhone and Android.

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