With the mid-season bye upon us for the Sydney Swans, now is a good time to look ahead to the 2026 Bob Skilton Medal.
The glittering event will take place on the evening of October 1, at the Sydney Town Hall, where the announcement of our 2026 Club Champion receives the prestigious medal as our best and fairest player.
The award itself is determined by the Sydney Swans Football Department, and its ‘coaching group’, who each award up to five votes per player based on their performance in every game.
Reigning two-time Club Champion, Isaac Heeney is having another fantastic season thus far, while Brodie Grundy and Justin McInerney would have collected plenty of votes from the coaching staff at the Round 14 break.
New recruits Jai Serong, Charlie Curnow and Malcolm Rosas Jnr have also been extremely impressive in their first year at the club.
Five current players on the senior list have claimed the Bob Skilton Medal previously, with Heeney (2024, 2025), Errol Gulden (2023), Callum Mills (2022), Jake Lloyd (2018 and 2020), Dane Rampe (2019) all past winners.
Speaking recently on the club's More than Footy podcast, presented by Bing Lee, injured midfielder Justin McInerney predicted star midfielder Isaac Heeney may be on track to claim his third medal, an unprecedented record, with Brodie Grundy and Nick Blakey in contention to claim their first.
"I think Isaac's probably taken over (in the race for the Bob Skilton Medal)," McInerney said.
"He'll win three in a row."
"Brodie will be second. I think the way that he's gone about his footy this year has been incredible. Games where you think he probably hasn't been as on top in the first half of the first quarter and then he finds a way to come back and rally back and focus on his process and end up up on top."
"And then I think Lizard's been amazing. The way he's started up our ball movement and sort of, I reckon he's played a massive role in that and the way he's been defending has been great. So I think they'll probably round off the top three."
And while the Bob Skilton Medal caps off the night, McInerney had further predictions for some of his teammates.
"I think Will Edwards would have to get the most improved. I think there's been a few candidates, but I think just the way that he's attacked his career so far. His first four years, was sort of injury prone, I guess you could say and a few things didn't go his way. To come out and do what he's been doing has been amazing. Even with Tommy in the team or Tommy out of the team, he's been great."
"The Coach's Award probably goes to probably someone like JJ (James Jordon), I think. You see the way he plays, the way he shuts out the opponent's best player whenever he's called for it. So I think James gets that."
The 2026 Club Champion awards night will take place on the evening of October 1, at the Sydney Town Hall. Tickets will become available soon.
