The Geelong Football Club will conclude their 2026 AFL season with the annual Carji Greeves Medal, the club's best and fairest night celebrating the best moments from the year. 

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 2026 season. 

A number of players will be in contention for their first medal, while some more experienced campaigners will look to join an esteemed list of multiple winners of the prestigious award. 

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

Check out all the main details and everything you need to know to begin the build-up to the 2026 Carji Greeves Medal. 

Key Details 

Date: Thursday, October 1
Time: 6.30pm guest arrival / 7.30pm formalities to commence
Location: Palladium at Crown, Melbourne 
Tickets: Click Here

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. 

Cats players will be out to dethrone superstar Max Holmes, who claimed his second consecutive Carji Greeves Medal last year with a final total of 175 votes, finishing clear of Bailey Smith (155 votes) in second place after a strong first year in the Hoops. 

Geelong currently have five 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

2025 - Max Holmes
2024 - Max Holmes
2023 - Tom Stewart
2022 - Jeremy Cameron & Cameron Guthrie
2021 - Tom Stewart

How the Voting Works

After each game, the senior and assistant coaches review and rate each player's 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 held off strong seasons from some of Geelong's best players, to claim his second consecutive Carji Greeves Medal in 2025. 

The dashing Cat polled 175 votes to take out the top honour, finishing ahead of Bailey Smith (155 votes), Jeremy Cameron (145) and Tom Atkins (141). 

Holmes played every game in 2025 and polled votes in every match, also adjudged Geelong's best player in five of those games. 

Smith finished second in his first season with the club, capping off an outstanding year that included a third place finish in the Brownlow Medal, an All-Australian blazer and the AFLCA's Champion Player of the Year Award. 

The Contenders

Bailey Smith 

There is probably no doubt that when the whips are cracking in the final stages of the vote count, the superstar Cat will be right there in contention once again this year. 

Coming off a sensational first season with the club, Smith went even better this year with an average of 32.3 disposals and 5.4 clearances per game, also averaging 7.4 inside 50s and 7.4 score involvements. 

His consistency was remarkable, collecting 30 or more disposals in 17 of his 24 matches for the year, while also registering three games of 40 disposals. 

Ollie Dempsey

After finishing seventh in last year's count, Dempsey will once again be one to watch in 2026, with the way he thrives in his role on the wing and his impact on games. 

Dempsey averaged close to 20 disposals per game this year and was able to impact play at both ends of the ground, but particularly thrived in the attacking half with a total of 30 goals for the season. 

With nine games where he kicked two goals or more and a number of matches where he was firmly among Geelong's best, Dempsey could have a chance to improve on his finishing position from 2025. 

Shaun Mannagh

Mannagh scraped into the top 10 in last year's Carji Greeves Medal, but such was his impact this year, he could also potentially be a threat for a high finish in 2026. 

After a relatively slow start to the season, Mannagh found his best in Round 8 with an 18-disposal and four-goal performance against North Melbourne, setting up an incredible back half of the year. 

He had unbelievable outings, such as his 30-disposal and five-goal performance against Brisbane at the Gabba, and with his ability to play both forward and through the midfield, Mannagh could certainly poll strongly this year. 

Set to Rise

Connor O'Sullivan

The young star placed 18th in last year's Carji Greeves Medal, but will be a big chance for a far higher finish this year after a remarkable year in defence. 

O'Sullivan ranked seventh in the AFL for total intercept possessions this year, also finishing fourth in the competition for total intercept marks, while taking up the challenge against the game's best forwards. 

Ollie Henry

One of the more remarkable stories for the Cats this year, Henry went from a fringe player in 2025 to one of Geelong's most potent forwards in 2026. 

The young star finished 24th in the Carji Greeves Medal last year but went on to become a staple of the Cats' side, kicking a total of 48 goals which was the second-most of any Geelong player behind Shannon Neale. 

He hit the scoreboard in 22 of his 24 matches for the season, which included a career-high five-goal haul in the Semi-Final against Fremantle, so keep an eye on Henry as the night progresses.

Where to Watch

Cats fans can catch all the action through Geelong's official live stream, which will be available from 7.30pm AEST on Geelong's website, covering the vote count and other festivities as the night unfolds.