Port Adelaide\u00a0midfielder Jason Horne-Francis has been awarded his first\u00a0John Cahill Medal,\u00a0the honour given to the\u00a0club\u2019s best and fairest player at AFL level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Adelaide\u2019s AFL and SANFL best and fairest event was held on Tuesday night at the Adelaide Convention Centre, to celebrate the\u00a0most important contributors\u00a0from\u00a0the season that was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horne-Francis accumulated 88 votes, just\u00a0edging\u00a0out\u00a0Zak Butters in the count by five votes, who finished on 83.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mitch Georgiades capped off a strong season, coming in third with\u00a069 votes, as well as taking home the leading goal-kicker trophy for the third consecutive season (51 goals).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vice-captain Willem Drew (56 votes) and rising midfielder Joe Richards (55 votes) completed the top five.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2026,\u00a0Horne-Francis enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 23.3 disposals, 9.9 contested possessions and 5.8 clearances from his 21 games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The midfielder\u00a0has\u00a0continued\u00a0honing\u00a0his forward craft, hitting the scoreboard with 27 majors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He kicked multiple goals in nine games\u00a0including three, three-goal hauls against Essendon,\u00a0Carlton\u00a0and West Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old\u00a0former number one draft pick has lived up to the hype, which is especially impressive given his limited pre-season with a foot injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough start to the year and I’m thankful to Josh for easing me into the season, Round 1 and Round 2 were my pre-season (following injury).<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved the challenge of coming up against the best midfielders in the comp, or someone that wants to run around with you. The extra bit of leadership I’ve had to take on this year, I’ve loved it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I’ve found the balance where I can lead and keep some consistency in my game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a playing group, we’re all hungry and optimistic about where the group can go. Very hungry to have a good off-season and get back out there.”<\/p>\n
He also thanked his family and his partner Isabella for their support.<\/p>\n
Willem Drew\u00a0was awarded an incredible\u00a0fourth\u00a0consecutive\u00a0Fos Williams Medal for best team man,\u00a0as voted by his teammates.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
His\u00a0team-first\u00a0approach is second-to-none, while his leadership traits have continued to grow,\u00a0even captaining the side on several occasions late in the season.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young key forward Jack Whitlock\u00a0claimed\u00a0the Gavin\u00a0Wanganeen\u00a0Medal, awarded to the best player under 21, and\u00a0intercepting defender Josh Lai\u00a0was recognised with the Coaches\u2019 Award for the most improved player\u00a0this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The John McCarthy Medal for work in the community went\u00a0to Benny Barrett\u00a0for his\u00a0work within\u00a0Power Community\u00a0Ltd\u2019s\u00a0programs, particularly in the multicultural space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barrett\u00a0has built meaningful connections with young people from all backgrounds through his participation in\u00a0club programs, and he\u2019s also\u00a0volunteered with the Hutt St Centre,\u00a0which engages South Australians experiencing homelessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier in the evening, midfielder\u00a0Will Lorenz\u00a0was named the club\u2019s SANFL Best and Fairest, taking home\u00a0his first\u00a0A.R. McLean Medal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal leader board\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Jason Horne-Francis \u2013 88\u00a0
2.\u00a0Zak Butters \u2013 83\u00a0\u00a0
3.\u00a0Mitch Georgiades \u2013 69\u00a0\u00a0
4.\u00a0Willem Drew \u2013 56\u00a0\u202f\u00a0
5.\u00a0Joe Richards \u2013 55\u00a0\u00a0\u202f\u00a0
6.\u00a0Jordon Sweet \u2013 54\u00a0\u00a0
7.\u00a0Jase Burgoyne \u2013 51\u00a0\u00a0
8.\u00a0Aliir\u00a0Aliir\u00a0\u2013 46\u00a0\u00a0
=9.\u00a0Darcy Byrne-Jones \u2013 43\u00a0\u00a0
=9.\u00a0Ollie Wines \u2013 43\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
AFL award winners\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal (best\u00a0&\u00a0fairest)\u202f\u00a0
Jason Horne-Francis\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal runner-up\u202f\u00a0
Zak Butters\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bruce Weber Memorial Award (third place best & fairest)\u202f\u00a0
Mitch Georgiades\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fos Williams Medal (best team man,\u00a0voted by the players)\u202f\u202f\u00a0
Willem Drew\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leading Goalkicker\u00a0
Mitch Georgiades (51\u00a0goals)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gavin Wanganeen Award (best player under 21)\u202f\u202f\u00a0
Jack Whitlock\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coaches\u2019 Award (most improved)\u202f\u202f\u00a0
Josh Lai\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
John McCarthy Award (for community service)\u202f\u202f\u00a0
Benny Barrett\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Life Membership\u00a0
Willem Drew, Todd Marshall, Sam Powell-Pepper, Jamie\u00a0Restas\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Port Adelaide\u00a0midfielder Jason Horne-Francis has been awarded his first\u00a0John Cahill Medal,\u00a0the honour given to the\u00a0club\u2019s best and fairest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-876458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}