Hawthorn star Tom Mitchell has claimed his third club best and fairest, joining a list of eight others as triple club champions.
This third win follows best and fairest wins in 2017, and his Brownlow-winning year in 2018.
Mitchell finished top with 161 votes, ahead of runner-up Blake Hardwick on 126 votes and vice-captain Jaeger O'Meara on 121 votes.
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โTo look back and know how far Iโve come since then is something Iโm proud of.โ
Tom Mitchell has become one of just nine players in the history of Hawthorn to win three or more Peter Crimmins Medals. โญ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/T6kyemssXw
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) September 16, 2021
The top five was rounded out by small forward Dylan Moore on 101 votes and a revitalised Chad Wingard, who polled 100 votes.
Returning back to his best, this season saw Mitchell feature in 22 matches and average 34.3 disposals, 4.8 tackles and 4.1 inside 50s per game.
Speaking after the award, Mitchell said he was honoured to join such rare company.
โThere has been so many great players who have come before the current playing group of this great club, itโs a nice recognition for some hard work," Mitchell said.
โI think coming from a pretty disappointing year last year in 2020, we wanted to climb the ladder.
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
โObviously the first half of the year was a bit of a struggle for us, we didnโt play too well but from then on I think we really showed some true character.
โThe playing group was amazing, we won six games in the back-half of the year and had a few draws against some quality opposition - I think that is really exciting for next year and beyond."
The win is especially pleasing for the Hawks given Mitchell severely broke his leg two seasons ago and has endured a long journey back.
Speaking about it on the night, Mitchell reflected on the arduous journey to get back to the top.
โThat was a difficult time, I wouldโve thought Iโd be standing here again thatโs for sure,โ Mitchell said.
โI still have memories of going through that rehab, and the medical team obviously did a great job in getting me back.
โBut there were difficult times - I think I was nine months into my rehab, of what ended up being around 18 months, and I was still really sore just walking, lesser-known running or playing footy.
โTo look back and know how far Iโve come since then is something Iโm proud of."
See Also: Which players record most three-vote games
Other awards on the night saw emerging key forward Jacob Koschitzke receive the Best First Year Player gong and defender Sam Frost awarded the Most Consistent Player award.
In another promising sign for the Hawks, exciting defender Changkuoth Jiath was awarded the clubโs Most Promising Player, with skipper Ben McEvoy winning the Best Clubman Award.
Top 10 Peter Crimmins Medal:
Tom Mitchell โ 161
Blake Hardwick โ 126
Jaeger OโMeara โ 121
Dylan Moore โ 101
Chad Wingard โ 100
Sam Frost โ 95
Daniel Howe โ 83
Changkuoth Jiath โ 79
Liam Shiels & James Worpel โ 74
Luke Breust - 73
