Jock McHale Medal

The Jock McHale Medal is presented to the AFL premiership coach each season.

The medal honours legendary Collingwood coach James “Jock” McHale, who guided the Magpies in 714 matches. McHale’s Collingwood teams won eight premierships, including a never-equalled four in a row between 1927 and 1930 inclusive.

Formerly known as the Premiership coach’s medal, the medal was renamed in McHale’s honour in 1949 after his retirement as a coach.

It was first awarded in 2001 and medals were retrospectively awarded back to 1950.

Malcolm Blight had been on the losing side in three grand finals as a coach at Geelong before joining Adelaide, where he guided the Crows to consecutive premierships in 1997-98.