"It’s always been ingrained in me to love football," Tom said.

Several commentators suggested Mitchell was lucky to be eligible for the award after an an off-the-ball incident with Todd North Melbourne ruckman Todd Goldstein in round five.

‘‘I don’t think there was a lot in the incident,’’ Mitchell said. ‘‘I didn’t think there was a lot of contact.’’ He did acknowledge, though, that he was lucky not to be suspended.

Mitchell, who entered the count as a $1.45 favourite with TAB Sportsbet, led early. Unsurprisingly he polled three votes for his record-breaking 54-disposal game against Collingwood in round one, followed it up with another three after he notched 40 disposals and kicked two goals in the round two win over Geelong, and three more in the round three loss to Richmond, a game in which he racked up 42 disposals. His perfect record was finally interrupted after he missed a vote in the round four win over Melbourne, having been restricted to a relatively meagre 24 disposal tally.

Ineligible Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe - who had been a mid-season favourite - started strongly as well, drawing level with Mitchell on nine votes after five rounds. So too did $51 chance Sidebottom, who polled the maximum possible votes across the Magpies’ three wins between rounds three and five.

Mitchell regained the outright lead in round six, polling two votes in the round six win over St Kilda. He had 45 disposals in that game, with the three votes going to teammate Isaac Smith, who had 24 disposals and kicked four goals. Star Adelaide defender Rory Laird drew to within one of Mitchell midway through round seven, while Fyfe moved one clear of Mitchell with a three-vote performance against Richmond, a match his side lost by 77 points. Fyfe edged further away after getting two votes the following round against St Kilda.

The umpires showed they weren’t entirely focused on disposals when Mitchell missed out altogether despite getting 46 disposals in the round nine loss to Brisbane. The Hawk even fell behind Sidebottom and Laird, both of whom polled in that round.

Mitchell temporarily regained the lead with three votes against Port Adelaide in round 11, but Sidebottom quickly overtook him with three votes against the Dockers in the same round. Sidebottom increased his lead to three with 32 disposals in the round 12 Queen’s Birthday win over Melbourne.

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However Mitchell reduced the gap to just one vote the following round after getting two votes against Adelaide, drew level in round 14 with one vote against Gold Coast, and regained the outright lead in round 15 with two votes for his 50-disposal showing in the loss to Greater Western Sydney.

Sidebottom hit back with three votes against Essendon in round 16, but Mitchell polled three against Carlton in round 18 to again restore a two-vote lead, before three more against Fremantle in round 19, extending his break on Sidebottom to five. Two more against Essendon in round 20 followed a one-vote effort in round 21 against Geelong. Sidebottom missed out in that round, meaning Mitchell had an unassailable eight vote lead with two rounds to go.

Richmond forward Jack Higgins won goal of the year for his controversial look-away effort against Collingwood at the MCG late in the season, while Sydney young gun Isaac Heeney received the mark of the year award for his late-season defensive hanger over Demon Jesse Hogan.

Melbourne’s Neville Jetta won the Jim Stynes community leadership award for his work with Indigenous youth.