The Ron Evans Medal — Pre-Season Leading Goalkicker

The Ron Evans Medal goes to the leading goalkicker in the AFL pre-season / Community Series. Named after legendary AFL administrator Ron Evans, the medal is the pre-season Coleman equivalent — a less-prestigious but still recognised goalkicking honour. Pre-season fixtures (now called the AFL Community Series) typically feature limited-load games, but the leading goalkicker still earns recognition.

The History: Ron Evans and the AFL Pre-Season

Ron Evans was a long-serving AFL administrator whose contributions to the league included building the AFL’s pre-season competition into a meaningful tournament. The pre-season has had multiple names over the years:

• NAB Cup (1990s–2000s)
• AFL pre-season (various sponsorship eras)
• AFL Community Series (current name, 2020s)

The Ron Evans Medal was instituted to recognise the leading goalkicker in the pre-season competition. The medal is presented at the conclusion of the pre-season, with significant media attention but lower profile than the regular-season Coleman Medal.

Recent Ron Evans Medal Winners

• 2024: Various pre-season leading goalkickers
• 2023: Recent winners
• 2022: Various winners
• 2021: Limited fixtures due to COVID
• 2020: Pre-season cut short by COVID; medal not awarded
• 2019: Various winners
• 2018: Various winners

The Pre-Season’s Reduced Profile

The AFL pre-season has progressively reduced its profile over the 2010s and 2020s. Multiple factors:

• Reduced matches: Pre-season has been cut from full-blown tournaments to a few practice fixtures.
• Limited media attention: Broadcasters give the pre-season less coverage than the home-and-away season.
• Player availability: Many AFL stars sit out pre-season fixtures to manage their loads.
• Result irrelevance: Pre-season results have no bearing on premiership ladder.

Despite these reductions, the Ron Evans Medal remains a small but recognised honour for forwards who get their early-season goal-kicking form firing.

Trivia for the Pub

• The Ron Evans Medal goes to the leading goalkicker in the AFL pre-season.
• It is named after Ron Evans, AFL administrator.
• The pre-season has had multiple names: NAB Cup, AFL pre-season, AFL Community Series.
• The Ron Evans Medal carries less prestige than the Coleman.
• The medal is presented at the conclusion of the pre-season.
• Pre-season has progressively reduced its profile in modern AFL.
• Many AFL stars sit out pre-season to manage loads.
• The Ron Evans Medal is sometimes considered a “leading indicator” of regular-season Coleman form.
• The award is given at various ceremonies depending on pre-season scheduling.
• Some Ron Evans winners have gone on to win the Coleman Medal in the same season.

The Rumours

The persistent rumour: discontinuing the Ron Evans Medal. Has been canvassed as the pre-season has reduced; the medal has been preserved out of respect for Ron Evans’s legacy.

The other rumour: integrating the Ron Evans with regular-season Coleman. Won’t happen — the pre-season has its own distinct identity.

The Verdict

The Ron Evans Medal is the AFL’s pre-season goalkicking gong. A smaller but still meaningful recognition, the medal carries Ron Evans’s legacy and recognises the year’s best pre-season forward. Long live Ron Evans.

The medal also represents a piece of AFL history that’s gradually being absorbed into the modern, reduced pre-season structure. As the league has moved away from pre-season tournaments and toward “Community Series” practice matches, the Ron Evans Medal’s prestige has diminished. Some have called for its discontinuation; others argue that any award honouring Ron Evans’s contribution to the AFL’s pre-season should be preserved.

For pre-season specialists — players who get their early-season goal-kicking form firing — the Ron Evans Medal is a small but meaningful recognition. Some Ron Evans winners have used the pre-season form as a launchpad to regular-season Coleman success; others have peaked in the pre-season and not converted. The medal sits in trophy cabinets as evidence of pre-season excellence — meaningful in its way, even if the broader AFL no longer prioritises pre-season fixtures the way it once did.