The Showdown Medal is the medal awarded to the player adjudged best on ground in the Showdown AFL match between

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

. It is thus similar to the Ross Glendinning Medal awarded in

Western Derby The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...

games. However, no medal is awarded if the teams meet in a final, as they did in 2005. The Showdown Medal was first presented in Showdown VII, Round 7, 2000. Mark Ricciuto and Shane Mensforth,
Roo
' (Sydney: Pan Macmillan, 2007), 105. It was formerly known as the "

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Medal", but is currently sponsored by

Balfours Balfours is an Australian bakery which produces pies, pasties and cakes for sale in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. History Balfours began when Scottish immigrant James Calder and Margaret née Balfour opened a bakery at 130 R ...

. For Showdown 39 in Round 16, 2015, the Showdown Medal was named the Phillip Walsh Medal, after the late Adelaide coach Phil Walsh.

List of Showdown medalists (Men)

List of Showdown medalists (Women)

Retrospective Showdown Medals

As the Showdown Medal was only introduced in 2000, six Showdowns were played without a medal being awarded. In 2019,

Michelangelo Rucci Michelangelo Rucci (born 10 November 1963) is an Australian sports journalist, and writer. Of Italian descent, Rucci grew up in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, and graduated from Woodville High School. He is a sports writer in ...

, football writer for ''The Adelaide Advertiser'', advocated for a combination of Brownlow Medal, Club Champion voting, and Media votes to determine the selection for retroactively awarded Showdown Medals. This potential for retrospective Showdown Medals being awarded was enhanced by the Western Derby allocating retrospective medals in 2018. Another Showdown where a medal was not awarded to the player adjudged best afield was the 2005 Semi-Final. The official Adelaide website, afc.com.au, lists Simon Goodwin as their best player in the 2005 Showdown Final with 3 goals and 22 disposals at 91% disposal efficiency to his name.

References

{{AFL BOG medals Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club Australian Football League awards Awards established in 2000 2000 establishments in Australia