Rory Laird has claimed the 2018 Malcolm Blight Medal after he was crowned Club Champion on Friday night.



The dashing defender pulls on the coveted Gold Jacket for the first time on the back of a consistent season that saw him poll votes in every one of his 20 games.

Laird led from the start of the count and despite a late charge from last year’s winner Matt Crouch, finished a decisive winner on 222 votes.

Crouch finished with 166 votes, 111 of which he polled in the final nine games of the season, and key forward Josh Jenkins came in a close third with 162 votes.

Jenkins took out the Leading Goalkicker award with 46 majors for the season and achieved his first ever podium finish for the Malcolm Blight Medal.

In Round One, Laird polled a team-high 14 votes in Adelaide’s loss to Essendon before polling double-figures in seven of the first nine rounds.

The 24-year-old had 108 votes to his name after Round Nine and, following the mid-season bye, managed to poll double figures in six of the nine games he played.

It is Laird’s third top-three finish in the past four years. In 2015, he was runner-up to former Crow Patrick Dangerfield.

Last year, he finished third with 226 votes behind Rory Sloane (253) and winner Matt Crouch (315).=

Laird collected 40+ disposals on four occasions and a career-best 43 in the Crows’ 15-point win over Geelong in Round 17.

He finished sixth in the AFL for disposals (644), fifth for handball receives (289) and tenth for rebound 50s (100).

On Wednesday night, he was named in a back pocket in the 2018 All Australian side to give him back-to-back selections.

Laird joins club legends Chris McDermott, Ben Hart and Tony McGuiness as past winners of the medal, as well as current players Daniel Talia, Rory Sloane and Richard Douglas.

Adelaide dual-premiership players Andrew McLeod, Mark Riccuito and Simon Goodwin are all three-time winners of the award.

The voting system was the same as last year, with five coaches casting votes on a 4, 3, 2, 1 basis after every game.

Final Leaderboard Top 10

Rory Laird – 222

Matt Crouch – 166

Josh Jenkins – 162

Bryce Gibbs – 149

Hugh Greenwood - 140

Tom Doedee – 139

Luke Brown – 134

Wayne Milera Junior – 134

Rory Atkins – 128

Paul Seedsman - 128

Major Award Winners 2018

Malcolm Blight Medallist –Rory Laird

Runner-up – Matt Crouch

Third place – Josh Jenkins

Leading Goalkicker Award – Josh Jenkins

Mark Bickley Emerging Talent Award – Tom Doedee

Players’ Trademark Award – Tom Doedee

Dr Brian Sando OAM Trophy – Tom Doedee

Members’ MVP Award – Rory Laird

Crows Children’s Foundation Community Leadership Award – Hugh Greenwood

Phil Walsh Best Team Man Award – Richard Douglas

State League Club Champion – Patrick Wilson

Dean Bailey Award – Corey Davey

Club Champion Voting Protocol

1 vote: Played their role. Solid game without significant influence on the game

2 votes: Played his role well and influenced the game

3 votes: Played his role very well with significant influence on the game

4 votes: Played his role outstandingly and dominated the game

Former winners

1991 – Mark Mickan

1992 – Chris McDermott

1993 – Tony McGuinness

1994 – Shaun Rehn

1995 – Matthew Connell

1996 – Matthew Liptak

1997 – Andrew McLeod

1998 – Mark Ricciuto

1999 – Ben Hart

2000 – Simon Goodwin

2001 – Andrew McLeod

2002 – Ben Hart

2003 – Mark Ricciuto

2004 – Mark Ricciuto

2005 – Simon Goodwin

2006 – Simon Goodwin

2007 – Andrew McLeod

2008 – Nathan Bock

2009 – Bernie Vince

2010 – Richard Douglas

2011 – Scott Thompson

2012 – Scott Thompson

2013 – Rory Sloane

2014 – Daniel Talia

2015 – Patrick Dangerfield

2016 – Rory Sloane

2017 – Matt Crouch

2018 – Rory Laird