The NEAFL MVP Award is presented to the player uniquely judged the best in the competition by a combination of umpire and coaches votes.

The votes are submitted post-game cast on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. As such, the maximum amount of votes a single player can earn per match is 10 – courtesy of the maximum five votes from both umpires and coaches.

The progress of the MVP voting is published on the NEAFL website for the first 16 rounds of the season, but withheld from that point on until the winner is revealed at the end of season awards night.

The MVP Award was introduced in 2014 when the league changed from a two-conference format into a single competition.

In previous years the best-and-fairest player of the Northern Conference won the QAFL’s Grogan Medal and the best-and-fairest of the Eastern Conference took home ACT Canberra’s Mulrooney Medal.

The Grogan Medal was named in honour of longtime administrator J.A Grogan, who played a leading role in Australian Rules football growth from the mid-1920s.

Similarly, the Mulrooney Medal was named in honour of past president and life member John L. Mulrooney, for recognition of his valued service to Australian Football in Canberra.