Leigh Matthews (L) toasts Patrick Cripps of the Blues, after winning the Leigh Matthews Trophy (Getty) "They're supposed to be represented by the player association. Fyfe said the Leigh Matthews Trophy carried great significance in the game and he was humbled to receive it for the second year in a row. I thought of all the little things I was going to speak about.It wasn’t quite the jaw dropping Oscars moment in 2017, when La La Land was mistakenly announced as best picture instead of Moonlight, but it is now part of AFL awards season folklore.But in 2009 he thought he won the AFL Players’ Association Most Value Player award for the second time — he won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2004 — only to discover a mistake had been made.“I never really got an explanation. Leigh Raymond Matthews AM (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian Rules football player and coach. Even though Leigh Matthews didn’t acquire the highest individual honor â the Brownlow Medal â playing in the Hawthorn premiership sides for four years will undoubtedly have afforded more than enough reimbursement. He was part of the All-Australian Team, AFL Team of the Century and was given the VFLPA MVP Award in 1982, an award which was later renamed to the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2002 in his honor. Going into his fifteenth season in the VFL, Matthews showed no signs of slowing down in 1983. He maintained impressive form for most of the year, averaging 23.5 disposals and 3.0 goals in his 16 games.
This was the first in a series of occasional violent lapses that punctuated, and ultimately soiled, Matthews' stellar career, culminating in his conviction for criminal assault arising out of an on-field incident in 1985 described below.Matthews' coaching style at the Lions was reportedly incredibly strict, although obviously successful. He went on to kick at least three goals in each of the last 10 games of the year, including the Grand Final, in which he kicked 6 goals, 5 behinds in his fourth premiership win. Leigh Matthews presents Patrick Cripps of the Blues with the Leigh Matthews Trophy. The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. This was the first in a series of occasional violent lapses that punctuated, and ultimately soiled, Matthews' stellar career, culminating in his conviction for criminal assault arising out of an on-field incident in 1985 described below.Matthews' coaching style at the Lions was reportedly incredibly strict, although obviously successful. Despite his four premierships as a coach, Matthews never coached a team to the minor premiership—though he did finish second with Collingwood twice and second with Brisbane three times.In 2007, he coached his 200th game with the club, making him the first person to play or coach 200 games with three different clubs.Hawthorn opened the 1981 season against Melbourne in round 1 and Matthews, under a slight injury cloud, lined up at full forward to great effect.
Matthews is one of only three Australian rules footballers recognised as a Legend of Australian Sport in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame , alongside Ron Barassi and Ted Whitten . The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. In that time the prestige of the award has grown enormously.
He represented Hawthorn for 332 games in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985 and coached Collingwood (1986-1995) and Brisbane Lions (1999-2008).How would you rate their greatness? Gary Ablett Jnr has won the Leigh Matthews Trophy on five occasions while Greg Williams, Wayne Carey, Michael Voss, Chris Judd and Nat Fyfe are the other multiple winners. He possessed an abundance of both effectiveness and suitability, a highly skillful player. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was still known as the Victorian Football League. Matthews finished the season as Hawthorn's leading goal kicker for the first four consecutive years. As a coach, he had four premierships and 3 All-Australian.