Geelong will celebrate their 2025 AFL season on Thursday, as the club heads to the Palladium at Crown for the Cats 2025 best and fairest night. 

The main event of the evening will be the vote count, with the winner to take home the Carji Greeves Medal, awarded to Geelong's best player from the 2025 season. 

A number of players will be in contention for their first medal, while some more experienced campaigners will look to add to their tally. 

The night will be live streamed on Geelong's website from 7.30pm AEST, with Cats fans able to watch as the vote count unfolds.

Check out all the main details and everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 Carji Greeves Medal. 

Key Details 

Date: Thursday, October 2
Time: 6.30pm guest arrival / 7.30pm formalities to commence
Location: Palladium at Crown, Melbourne 
Tickets: Sold Out

A Brief History

The Carji Greeves Medal is awarded to the Geelong player adjudged Best and Fairest each season, highlighting the outstanding players for the Club every year. 

The medal is named after Geelong legend, Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves who won the inaugural Brownlow Medal back in 1924. 

Max Holmes is the defending champion after taking out the award last year with 164 votes, finishing ahead of Zach Guthrie on 120 votes and Jeremy Cameron on 118 votes.

Geelong currently have six players on their active list that have won the Carji Greeves Medal previously, Patrick Dangerfield leading the pack with three best and fairest awards. 

Previous Winners

2024 - Max Holmes
2023 - Tom Stewart
2022 - Jeremy Cameron & Cameron Guthrie
2021 - Tom Stewart
2020 - Cameron Guthrie

How the Voting Works

After each game, the senior and assistant coaches review and rate each players performance out of 10. Votes are polled in games where a players performance has been deemed of a high quality by the coaching group. All matches are counted towards their final total. 

Last Time

Max Holmes was recognised for his brilliant 2024 season, taking out his first Carji Greeves Medal in dominant fashion last year. 

Polling in 22 games, Holmes finished on 164 votes which was 44 clear of second place, after a season where he lead the Cats for disposals, metres gained and inside 50s. 

Zach Guthrie recorded a career-high finish in 2024, awarded second place with 120 votes for the season to finish narrowly clear of Jeremy Cameron in third position, with the superstar forward polling 118 votes. 

Brownlow Form

If the Brownlow Medal is any indication, the Carji Greeves Medal vote count could be a fascinating watch with numerous players in contention. 

Bailey Smith led the way in the Brownlow with 29 votes, finishing third overall and on top of the Cats leaderboard in his first season at the club. 

Jeremy Cameron followed closely behind with an impressive 20 votes, while Max Holmes rounded out Geelong's podium placings with 18 votes. 

13 different Cats players polled at least one vote and Geelong polled the most total votes of any team in the competition. 

The Contenders

Bailey Smith 

An elite ball-winner and explosive out of the midfield, Bailey Smith's inaugural season in the blue and white Hoops was nothing short of remarkable. 

The star on-baller led the Cats for disposals and centre clearances this year, his consistency was also impressive collecting 30 or more disposals on 14 different occasions. 

Max Holmes

Equally as dominant through the midfield this year, Max Holmes has a genuine chance of walking away with the Carji Greeves Medal for the second straight year. 

Averaging 26.9 disposals per game, Holmes finished in Geelong's top three players this year for score involvements, clearances, contested possessions, inside 50s and rebound 50s. 

What might set him apart from Smith was his ability to hit the scoreboard, with Holmes kicking 14 goals this year to go with 18 goal assists.

Jeremy Cameron

The Coleman Medalist always features prominently in the Carji Greeves Medal, but his career-best 2025 season will certainly attract some votes as the night rolls on.

Cameron finished the season with a career-high 88 goals, while also leading the Cats for marks inside 50 and score involvements. 

Set to Rise

Tom Atkins

A feature of every Carji Greeves Medal winner is their consistency, and there may not be a more steady and reliable asset in the competition than Tom Atkins. 

Breaking the AFL record for most tackles in a season (232), Atkins was the defensive midfield presence that allowed the likes of Smith and Holmes to get dangerous offensively. 

Not only that but Atkins also led Geelong for clearances and contested possessions this year, certainly one to watch after missing out on the top 10 in 2024. 

Shaun Mannagh

A number of young guns have the potential to poll strongly on Thursday night, but Shaun Mannagh's season has been remarkable and will definitely attract some votes. 

In his second year with the Cats, Mannagh averaged 18.3 disposals and 4.9 tackles per game, hitting the scoreboard with 31 goals and 20 goal assists. 

Mannagh was also able to push into the midfield at times, finishing second at Geelong for stoppage clearances and third for inside 50s. 

Where to Watch

While tickets are sold out for Thursday night's event, Cats fans can still catch all the action through Geelong's official live stream. 

The live stream will be available from 7.30pm AEST on Geelong's website, covering the vote count and other festivities as the night unfolds.