HARD-running midfielder Max Holmes has capped a breakout season with his first 'Carji' Greeves Medal as Geelong's best and fairest.
Holmes polled 164 votes to finish well clear of defender Zach Guthrie (120 votes), with star forward Jeremy Cameron (118), champion defender Tom Stewart (117) and small forward Tyson Stengle (107) rounding out the top five.
The 22-year-old played every one of the Cats' 25 games in 2024, and polled votes in 22 of them. He was judged the Cats' best players in six of those games, and also earned a place in the 44-player AFL All-Australian squad for the first time.
Spending time at half-back and in the midfield, Holmes averaged a career-high 24.2 disposals and 560.7 metres gained, leading the Cats for disposals, inside 50s and effective disposals.
Guthrie backed up his excellent 2023 season with another fine year, improving from fourth in last year's B&F to second in a campaign that earned him a three-year contract extension to the end of 2028.
In other awards presented on the evening, Telstra AFL Rising Star winner Ollie Dempsey was named best young player, while Tom Atkins and Tom Hawkins were recognised with the Tom Harley Best Club Person Award.
Retiring great Hawkins also won the Carter Family Community Champion Award for the second time, having received the award in 2019, for his work with Geelong's community programs.
'Carji' Greeves Medal
1. Max Holmes - 164 votes
2. Zach Guthrie - 120 votes
3. Jeremy Cameron - 118 votes
4. Tom Stewart - 117 votes
5. Tyson Stengle - 107 votes
6. Gryan Miers - 95 votes
7. Ollie Dempsey - 73 votes
8. Ollie Henry - 69 votes
9. Brad Close - 66 votes
10. Patrick Dangerfield - 65 votes
How the voting works: After each game, the senior and assistant coaches review and rate each players performance on a scale of 0 to 10. Votes are only polled in games where a player’s performance has been deemed of a high quality by the coaching group. All matches are counted towards their final total.