IT is one of the individual football awards most cherished by those who win it, and for the 20th time, the Peter Badcoe VC Medal will be awarded in Port Adelaide’s Anzac Round clash with St Kilda on Friday night.
Boak, Selwood, Lade, Tredrea, Hayes, Cornes, Gray, Rozee - the list of winners reads like an All-Australian roll call but what it also highlights is a list of some of the most courageous and team-oriented players in the game.
Since it was first awarded in 2004 to Port Adelaide premiership player and now assistant coach Josh Carr, the Badcoe Medal has had a total of 19 winners with just three players – Travis Boak (three times), Joel Selwood (twice) and Connor Rozee (twice) having won it multiple times.
Voted on by journalists and media personalities covering the annual Anzac Round match hosted by Port Adelaide, the medal is awarded to the player who best demonstrates the ANZAC spirit and qualities of skill, courage in adversity, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play.
“We talk a lot in footy about it being a team game and how individual accolades don’t mean a lot, but this is one individual medal that’s a bit different,” said Carr reflecting on being the first to take home the Peter Badcoe VC Medal.
“It’s not about who is best on ground, but about who is selfless and best does the team things – the kind of things you want to be known for as a player.
“I never realised I was the first to win the medal, but it’s always meant a lot to me to be among the winners.”
Major Peter Badcoe VC served in the Vietnam War and is the last South Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross - the military’s highest honour for bravery.
He was one of Australia's greatest war heroes, a highly decorated soldier whose acts of bravery and courage saw him awarded the medal for three separate acts during the Vietnam conflict.
Major Badcoe died on a battlefield in Vietnam on April 7, 1967 - his last action on that day seeing him single-handedly try to stop a Vietcong machine gunner from firing on allied South Vietnamese troops.
“Around this time of year a lot of people make comparisons between footy and war, but the truth is you can’t compare the two,” Carr said.
“I have so much respect for Peter Badcoe and for all of the people who have served in warzones to protect our nation. I know our club has had a strong relationship over decades with the ADF and the Anzac Round game is always a special occasion to pay tribute to those who have and continue to serve.”
Current Port Adelaide captain Rozee has taken home the Badcoe medal in each of the last two seasons, most recently after having 29 possessions, seven tackles and three clearances to go with two goals in a win over West Coast in 2023.
In 2020 the medal was not awarded due to the AFL season being delayed beyond Anzac Day due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
The question remains for Friday night’s match as to whether someone from St Kilda will step up and join Lenny Hayes as that club’s sole medal winner and first since 2009, or whether a 12th Port Adelaide player will write their name into the history books.
Peter Badcoe VC Medal Past Winners:
2004: Josh Carr (Port Adelaide)
2005: Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide)
2006: Brendon Lade (Port Adelaide)
2007: Chad Cornes (Port Adelaide)
2008: Kane Cornes (Port Adelaide)
2009: Lenny Hayes (St. Kilda)
2010: David Rodan (Port Adelaide)
2011: Michael Rischitelli (Gold Coast Suns)
2012: Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
2013: Hamish Hartlett (Port Adelaide)
2014: Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
2015: Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
2016: Joel Selwood (Geelong)
2017: Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
2018: Joel Selwood (Geelong)
2019: Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
2020: *not awarded – no ANZAC Round due to COVID-19 lockdown
2021: Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
2022: Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
2023: Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
