Clayton Oliver celebrates a goal against Brisbane in the 2021 qualifying final. Picture: AFL Photos

MELBOURNE star Clayton Oliver is the early frontrunner for the Gary Ayres Award for best finals player after picking up a perfect 10 votes for his performance against Brisbane on Saturday night. 

Oliver, who won the AFLCA Player of the Year award, racked up 33 disposals and kicked a goal as the Demons advanced to the preliminary final. 

Sydney gun Isaac Heeney also picked up the 10 despite the Swans' season ending at the hands of the Giants, while Port Adelaide stars Travis Boak and Ollies Wines were others to feature prominently.

Check out all the week one votes and the leaderboard below. 

For every final, the AFL coaches vote for the best players from their game. The coaches vote for five players, giving them a mark from 1-5. The maximum a player can score is 10 (with five votes from both coaches).

Port Adelaide v Geelong

9 Travis Boak (PORT)
7 Ollie Wines (PORT)
6 Aliir Aliir (PORT)
3 Tom Jonas (PORT)
3 Orazio Fantasia (PORT)
2 Jack Henry (GEEL)

ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 00:43

    Relentless Power draw first blood

    Port's pressure was too much to handle as Steven Motlop made sure his former side paid full price

    AFL
  • 00:43

    Aliir intercept leads to Fantasia ripper

    Aliir Aliir's fourth intercept mark of the game led to Orazio Fantasia extending his side's lead late in the first term

    AFL
  • 00:24

    Orazio has a hat-trick with long-range beauty

    Orazio Fantasia makes it three goals after he made the Cats pay for another sloppy error

    AFL
  • 00:37

    Tomahawk's second gives Cats a sniff

    Tom Hawkins has made it two Cats goals in quick succession to give them a sniff of an unlikely comeback

    AFL
  • 00:27

    Orazio's incredible night ends early with knee injury

    Orazio Fantasia was subbed out during the fourth quarter with what appears to be a knee issue

    AFL
  • 00:18

    Rohan's torpedo launches into the stratosphere

    Gary Rohan has unleashed a monster torpedo which almost made it past the centre circle

    AFL
  • 00:43

    Super sub lights up Adelaide Oval

    Sam Powell-Pepper puts the Cats to bed with this running goal getting the Power faithful on their feet

    AFL
  • 00:29

    Hawkins carried off after 300th game

    Tom Hawkins gets a warm reception as he was carried off after his 300th game

    AFL
  • 11:18

    'We didn't need to take any more risks': Hinkley on subbing out Fantasia

    Watch Port Adelaide's press conference after the second Qualifying Final against Geelong

    AFL
  • 14:44

    'Virtually everything that could go wrong did go wrong': Scott

    Watch Geelong's press conference after the Qualifying Final against Port Adelaide

    AFL
  • 02:09

    Orazio shuts out Cats with four-goal performance

    Orazio Fantasia lit it up on the finals stage with an incredible four goals to stun the Cats

    AFL
  • 06:56

    Highlights: Port Adelaide v Geelong

    The Power and Cats clash in the second Qualifying Final

    AFL
  • 14:21

    Mini Match: Port Adelaide v Geelong

    Extended highlights of the Second Qualifying Final clash between the Power and the Cats at the Adelaide Oval

    AFL

Sydney v Greater Western Sydney

10 Isaac Heeney (SYD)
6 Josh Kelly (GWS)
6 Luke Parker (SYD)
4 Harry Perryman (GWS)
2 Jesse Hogan (GWS)
2 Tim Taranto (GWS)

ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 00:32

    Papley makes the most of Giant blunder to give Swans perfect start

    Tom Papley is at his usual best, finishing a 50m penalty to get the Swans on the board

    AFL
  • 00:38

    Electric Greene on fire early with two majors

    Toby Greene kicks two in a row to take the lead against the Swans

    AFL
  • 00:25

    Vintage Buddy nails tough banana to get Tassie rocking

    Classy Buddy Franklin secures Swans third against the Giants

    AFL
  • 00:38

    Slick Buddy nails a bouncing dribbler off the ground

    Buddy Franklin kicks his second for the day with a tricky dribbling goal

    AFL
  • 00:38

    Incredible mid-air strike from crafty Giant

    Daniel Lloyd keeps GWS momentum going after a brilliant opportunist goal

    AFL
  • 00:56

    Heeney keeps Swans alive with two classy majors

    Isaac Heeney continues to prove himself as one of the most dynamic forwards in the league, watch as he kicks two classy majors

    AFL
  • 00:42

    Heeney gives Swans a late chance with two dashing goals

    Isaac Heeney kicks another two goals in the fourth quarter against GWS

    AFL
  • 07:42

    Highlights: Sydney v GWS

    The Swans and Giants clash in the second Elimination Final

    AFL
  • 02:34

    Greene involved in everything in best-on-ground showing

    Toby Greene's three goals and work around the ground was vital for the Giants in their elimination final win against the Swans

    AFL
  • 14:12

    Cameron on Toby: 'All I know is it wouldn't have been intentional'

    Watch GWS's press conference after their second Elimination Final match against Sydney

    AFL
  • 10:32

    Longmire: 'We're a shattered group at the moment'

    Watch Sydney's press conference after their Elimination Final match against GWS

    AFL
  • 14:30

    Mini Match: Sydney v GWS

    Extended highlights of the Elimination Final clash between the Swans and Giants

    AFL
  • 00:20

    Toby in trouble? Superstar Giant makes contact with ump

    Toby Greene makes contact with umpire Matt Stevic during the three-quarter time break

    AFL

Melbourne v Brisbane

10 Clayton Oliver (MELB)
7 Christian Petracca (MELB)
4 Charlie Cameron (BL)
4 Lachie Neale (BL)
3 Jake Lever (MELB)
1 Max Gawn (MELB)
1 Alex Neal-Bullen (MELB)

ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 00:36

    Big Ben conjures big bender to open proceedings

    Ben Brown gets the Demons off to the perfect start with this crafty shot

    AFL
  • 00:30

    Cameron creating absolute havoc early

    Livewire Charlie Cameron looks at his dangerous best with two exciting goals in a row

    AFL
  • 00:15

    Huge Lions blow with McStay subbed off

    Brisbane has suffered a cruel injury blow with Daniel McStay forced out of the game after this incident

    AFL
  • 00:30

    Jackson jumps highest in monster speccy

    Luke Jackson stuns Adelaide Oval after getting some serious hangtime in this super mark

    AFL
  • 00:37

    Charlie gets motor churning to spark new life

    Charlie Cameron turns on the jets once again and snaps a crucial goal for the Lions

    AFL
  • 00:33

    Freakish Fritsch making his mark

    Bayley Fritsch hauls in a ripping grab and finishes off his great work with a goal

    AFL
  • 00:34

    Petracca puts game to rest with sheer class

    Demons superstar Christian Petracca calls stumps with two sensational goals in the last

    AFL
  • 07:57

    Highlights: Melbourne v Brisbane

    The Demons and Lions clash in the First Qualifying Final

    AFL
  • 01:46

    Oliver owns the stage to build on big week

    Demons star Clayton Oliver produces a stunning finals performance only days after claiming the AFL Coaches' Association Player of the Year Award

    AFL
  • 07:41

    Fagan: 'Too many passengers'

    Chris Fagan was disappointed 'a number of players played below their best in a big final' and confirmed the impact of injury to Dan McStay

    AFL
  • 08:26

    Goodwin: 'We're completely different than 2018'

    Simon Goodwin says his team have 'really established themselves' and are in a better position to have a crack at the ultimate success in 2021

    AFL
  • 14:52

    Mini-Match: Melbourne v Brisbane

    Extended highlights of the First Qualifying Final clash between the Demons and Lions at Adelaide Oval

    AFL

Western Bulldogs v Essendon

7 Tom Liberatore (WB)
6 Jack Macrae (WB)
5 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
5 Cody Weightman (WB)
4 Darcy Parish (ESS)
2 Aaron Naughton (WB)
1 Jordan Ridley (ESS)

ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 00:42

    The Package delivers a super opener

    The crowd erupts as Jake Stringer lands the first blow against his former side

    AFL
  • 00:29

    Parish pounces on scraps and punishes them

    Darcy Parish adds to his impressive season with an early goal in the finals

    AFL
  • 00:47

    Weightman winning frees and finding sticks

    Cody Weightman continues to provide goals for the Dogs with two goals in third term

    AFL
  • 00:36

    Tensions boil over in fiery quarter

    Jake Stringer imposes himself in a scuffle after fireworks are sparked between Zach Merrett and Lewis Young

    AFL
  • 00:29

    Hannan helps it home and Dogs look home

    Aaron Naughton finds Mitch Hannan clear in front of goal and the Doggies look like they've done enough

    AFL
  • 00:47

    High-flying Naughton puts icing on cake

    Aaron Naughton hauls in two superb marks and finishes off his good work to pile on more misery for the Bombers

    AFL
  • 07:26

    Highlights: Western Bulldogs v Essendon

    The Bulldogs and Bombers clash in the first elimination final

    AFL
  • 15:29

    Bevo: 'A great experience for us all'

    Luke Beveridge says his side are feeling good after having an 'even contribution' and stated 'travel doesn't bother us' when questioned about next week's tough task of overcoming the Lions in Queensland

    AFL
  • 09:47

    Rutten: 'We'll be better off for that, no doubt'

    Ben Rutten says despite the disappointing loss, his side will take plenty away from experiencing finals in a year where most tipped them to finish in the bottom four

    AFL
  • 14:53

    Mini-Match: Western Bulldogs v Essendon

    Extended highlights of the First Elimination Final between the Bulldogs and Bombers at the University of Tasmania Stadium

    AFL
  • 01:40

    Free kicks help as Cody boots four in fiery finals affair

    Small Bulldog Cody Weightman kicked four goals directly from free kicks to help his side outlast the Bombers

    AFL

Leaderboard

10 Isaac Heeney SYD
10 Clayton Oliver MELB
9 Travis Boak PORT
7 Tom Liberatore WB
7 Christian Petracca MELB
7 Ollie Wines PORT
6 Aliir Aliir PORT
6 Josh Kelly GWS
6 Jack Macrae WB
6 Luke Parker SYD
5 Marcus Bontempelli WB
5 Cody Weightman WB
4 Charlie Cameron BL
4 Lachie Neale BL
4 Darcy Parish ESS
4 Harry Perryman GWS
3 Orazio Fantasia PORT
3 Tom Jonas PORT
3 Jake Lever MELB

Previous winners

2016 Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
2017 Dustin Martin (Richmond)
2018 Steele Sidebottom (Collingwood)
2019 Dustin Martin (Richmond)
2020 Dustin Martin (Richmond)