Turner wins third Swan Medal

Swan Districts captain Jesse Turner has won the Swan Medal for a third time after he won the best and fairest award for the 2025 WAFL Men’s season by one solitary vote ahead of Jye Chalcraft.

The 2025 season for the Swan Districts Men’s teams was celebrated last Friday night at the picturesque Mandoon Estate with the whimsical Scott Cummings the MC for the evening.

Coming off a preliminary final appearance in 2024, it wasn’t the season in the league competition that Swan Districts were hoping for in 2025 for a whole host of reasons but there was still plenty of reasons to celebrate at the Swan Medal Count.

That included paying tribute to the remarkable 323-game career of Tony Notte who retired during the season and does so as the all-time games record holder with Swan Districts.

Then right throughout the vote count for the Swan Medal, it was neck and neck between both Jesse Turner and Jye Chalcraft virtually the whole way.

By the end of the opening five rounds of the vote count, it was Turner out in front with 36 votes from Chalcraft on 28 while it was Notte third on 15.

By the end of Round 11, Turner had extended his lead to 13 over Chalcraft in the Swan Medal battle while Josh Cipro had risen to third position ahead of Lewis Tester.

The last check of the leaderboard came at the end of Round 16 and it was a thrilling finish set up with Turner still clinging to just a narrow four-vote lead over Chalcraft with Cipro consolidating third position ahead of Aidan Clarke and Nathan Blakely.

By the time the vote count got to the last round where Swans played Peel Thunder in Mandurah, Chalcraft was in front but Turner received six votes in that game that was enough to see him finish on 127 and to win the Swan Medal by one vote from Chalcraft.

Turner is now a three-time winner of the Swan Medal going with his triumphs in both 2022 and 2023 as part of his 174-game career with the black-and-whites. He had another standout season in 2025 averaging 30.6 possessions while playing all 18 matches.

Chalcraft finishes as runner-up for the second straight season in Swan Medal voting having put together two standout years in the midfield after joining Swan Districts. He averaged another 27.3 possessions across his 17 matches.

Josh Cipro brought up his 100-game milestone during the 2025 season and ended up third in Swan Medal voting.

Evan Smith played five league games in 2025 and ended up winning the RA Newby Memorial Award as the Rookie of the Year while Leigh Kohlmann kicked 32 goals to win the Ted Holdsworth Memorial Award as the leading goalkicker.

The reserves of 2025 made it all the way to the preliminary final before a nail biting two-point defeat at the hands of eventual premiers East Perth.

The best and fairest winner in the reserves was Luke Kelly who won the FA Bonney Sweetapple Memorial Award on the back of a season that saw him play just eight games but be outstanding in those averaging 25.4 possessions and kicking six goals.

He won the best and fairest award ahead of Luke Cotellessa and Ayden Cartwright, while Jordan Bushby received the Swans Past Players & Officials Association Encouragement Award.

The Swan Districts colts also made finals in 2025 before an elimination final loss to West Perth with Blake Kelly ending up winning the EJ McManus Award as the best and fairest recipient. He played 11 matches in the colts in 2025 and averaged 26.6 possessions in those.

He was named the best and fairest winner ahead of Leon Kickett and Soren Feast, while Jamie Sidebottom received the Swans Past Players & Officials Association Encouragement Award.

Other awards presented on the night included the Ken Ball Memorial Players Award which went to David Ciancosi, while Jehb O’Donohue won the Jack Hickling Memorial Award, and Trevor Hoy was the PJ Bright Memorial Award winner as the best club person.

WAFL MEN’S AWARD WINNERS 2025
LEAGUE
Swan Medal (Fairest and Best): Jesse Turner
Norm Thomas Memorial Award (runner-up): Jye Chalcraft
Mrs N Innes Memorial Award (third-place): Josh Cipro
RA Newby Memorial Award (Rookie of the Year): Evan Smith
Ted Holdsworth Memorial Award (Leading Goalkicker): Leigh Kohlmann (32 goals)

RESERVES
FA Bonney Sweetapple Memorial Award (Fairest and Best): Luke Kelly
DC Goddard Memorial Award (runner-up): Luke Cotellessa
Lew Armstrong Memorial Award (third-place): Ayden Cartwright
Reserves Encouragement Award: Jordan Bushby

COLTS
EJ McManus Award (Fairest and Best): Blake Kelly
Judy Sarich Memorial Award (runner-up): Leon Kickett
Cooper Brothers Award (third-place): Soren Feast
Colts Encouragement Award: Jamie Sidebottom

CLUB AWARDS
Ken Ball Memorial Players Award: David Ciancosi
Jack Hickling Memorial Award (Most Outstand Player On and Off Field): Jehb O’Donohue
PJ Bright Memorial Award (Best Club Person): Trevor Hoy

Click the following link to view the top 10 leaderboards for the Men’s and Women’s Best & Fairest Vote Count for season 2025.