Two Cats have been recognised for their strong performances on Saturday afternoon, with Shannon Neale and Tom Stewart both featuring in the Round 18 coaches votes. 

Neale was a shining light up forward for Geelong against the Giants, equalling his career-high with a five goal haul to help keep the Cats in the contest for much of the afternoon. 

Showing a strong pair of hands inside 50, the big Cat was able to pull down a number of contested marks and was incredibly accurate in front of the big sticks, his third bag of three goals or more in the past four games. 

Receiving two votes for his performance, Neale has now polled coaches votes in four different games this year, finding a nice vein of form through the middle of the season. 

Tom Stewart also received two votes from the coaches for his stellar display in defence, the leading player on the ground for intercept possessions (13) and metres gained (654) against the Giants. 

Accumulating eight rebound 50s to repel numerous GWS attacks, Stewart was incredibly clean with ball in hand amassing a team high 29 disposals at 97% efficiency, a brilliant outing for the star back. 

With six games remaining in the home and away season, Bailey Smith now sits in a tie for fifth on the overall leaderboard with Max Holmes still in the top 15. 

The AFL Coaches Association’s AFL Champion Player Award is an award voted by the 18 coaching panels on a 5,4,3,2,1 basis after each home and away game, acknowledging outstanding effort by an individual player in a season.

Round 18 Coaches Votes | GWS Giants v Geelong Cats 

Geelong Cats 2025 Coaches' Votes Leaderboard