\n A close John Cahill Medal count saw Jason Horne-Francis edge past his outgoing teammate\n <\/p>\n
Jason Horne-Francis during round 21 between Port Adelaide and GWS at Adelaide Oval, August 1, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
JASON Horne-Francis has won his first John Cahill Medal as Port Adelaide’s best and fairest winner on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Horne-Francis (88 votes) edged departing free agent and three-time winner Zak Butters (83) in a tight count at the Adelaide Convention Centre.<\/p>\n
Full-forward Mitch Georgiades capped off a strong season, finishing third with 69 votes, ahead of vice-captain Willem Drew (56) and rising midfielder Joe Richards (55).<\/p>\n
The victory completes a terrific season for Horne-Francis, who averaged 23 disposals, including 10 contested, along with 5.8 clearances in his 21 games.<\/p>\n
He was not only explosive in the middle of the ground, but the 23-year-old was dynamic in the forward half, kicking 27 goals, including three hauls of three.<\/p>\n
In his final season at the club, Butters ran Horne-Francis right to the line despite playing just 17 games before being sidelined with a serious ankle injury.<\/p>\n
Zak Butters leads his team out onto the field ahead of the match between Collingwood and Port Adelaide at the MCG in round 15, 2026. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The three-time All-Australian averaged 30 disposals (12 contested), with six clearances in his final year under Josh Carr before heading to a club in his home state of Victoria.<\/p>\n
Drew was awarded an incredible fourth consecutive Fos Williams Medal for best team man, as voted by his teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young key forward Jack Whitlock claimed the Gavin Wanganeen Medal, awarded to the best player under 21, and intercepting defender Josh Lai was recognised with the coaches’ award for the most improved player this season.<\/p>\n
Jack Whitlock during round 24 between Essendon and Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium, August 23, 2026. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Rookie Benny Barrett won the John McCarthy Award for his work within the Power Community Ltd\u2019s programs, particularly in the multicultural space.<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal leaderboard\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Jason Horne-Francis \u2013 88 votes
2. Zak Butters \u2013 83
3. Mitch Georgiades \u2013 69
4. Willem Drew \u2013 56 \u00a0
5. Joe Richards \u2013 55 \u00a0\u00a0
6. Jordon Sweet \u2013 54
7. Jase Burgoyne \u2013 51
8. Aliir Aliir \u2013 46
=9. Darcy Byrne-Jones \u2013 43
=9. Ollie Wines \u2013 43<\/p>\n
Award winners\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal (best & fairest)\u00a0
Jason Horne-Francis<\/p>\n
John Cahill Medal runner-up\u00a0
Zak Butters<\/p>\n
Bruce Weber Memorial Award (third place best & fairest)\u00a0
Mitch Georgiades<\/p>\n
Fos Williams Medal (best team man, voted by the players)\u00a0\u00a0
Willem Drew<\/p>\n
Leading goalkicker
Mitch Georgiades (51 goals)<\/p>\n
Gavin Wanganeen Award (best player under 21)\u202f\u00a0
Jack Whitlock<\/p>\n
Coaches\u2019 Award (most improved)\u202f\u00a0
Josh Lai<\/p>\n
John McCarthy Award (for community service)\u202f\u00a0
Benny Barrett<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A close John Cahill Medal count saw Jason Horne-Francis edge past his outgoing teammate Jason Horne-Francis during round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-876550","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\/876550","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=876550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}