Outstanding Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin has capped off one of the best individual seasons in league football history by winning the prestigious Jack Dyer Medal for a second successive year.

Martin took out the Tigers’ 2017 Best and Fairest award at tonight’s count held at a packed Crown Palladium ballroom.

He polled 89 votes, which was nine more than star key defender and 2015 Jack Dyer Medallist, Alex Rance, who was runner-up with 80 votes.

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Midfielder Kane Lambert underlined his impressive improvement throughout season 2017 by finishing third on 76 votes, inspirational captain Trent Cotchin was fourth with 73 votes, and dependable defender Dylan Grimes rounded out the top five on 69 votes.

It was an emphatic Jack Dyer Medal-winning performance by Martin, who polled the maximum five votes in a match seven times throughout the season, including the qualifying final win against Geelong and the Grand Final triumph over Adelaide.

Martin added the 2017 Jack Dyer Medal to his Brownlow Medal, Norm Smith Medal, premiership medal, AFL Coaches Association’s Player of the Year award, Leigh Matthews Trophy, Gary Ayres Award and All Australian blazer.

The 26-year-old took his game to an incredibly high level in 2017, averaging 29.8 disposals per match, with a season-high 40 v West Coast in Round 3 at the MCG, and against Brisbane in Round 17 at Etihad Stadium.

He also averaged 14.5 contested possessions, 6.4 clearances, 6.0 inside-50s, 4.1 marks and 3.5 tackles per game.

Competition-wide, he was ranked No. 1 for inside-50s, No. 1 for centre clearances, No. 1 for score involvements, No. 2 for contested possessions, No. 2 for metres gained, No. 3 for disposals, No. 3 for goal assists and No. 4 for clearances.

Among the Richmond playing group, Martin was ranked No. 1 for disposals, No. 1 for contested possessions, No. 1 for clearances, No. 1 for metres gained, No. 1 for goal assists, No. 2 for goals (37), No. 3 for uncontested possessions and No. 4 for contested marks.

Rance averaged 16.0 disposals, 5.2 marks and 3.9 rebound-50s per game throughout the 2017 season.

He had a season-high 21 disposals against Sydney at the MCG in Round 13 and was ranked No. 1 in the competition for intercepts, No. 1 for one-percenters and No. 11 for rebound-50s.

The 2017 All Australian captain was ranked No. 1 at Tigerland for rebound-50s, No. 3 for contested marks, No. 4 for total marks and No. 7 for contested possessions.

Lambert, who racked up a season-high 33 disposals against Port Adelaide in Round 15 at Adelaide Oval, averaged 21.5 disposals, 4.6 tackles and 4.1 inside-50s per game.

Among the Richmond players, Lambert was ranked No. 2 for goal assists, No. 2 for score involvements, No. 2 for tackles, No. 4 for inside-50s, No. 5 for contested possessions, No. 5 for uncontested possessions and No. 6 for uncontested possessions.

Cotchin averaged 23.6 disposals, 5.6 tackles, 5.2 clearances and 4.2 inside-50s per game for the year.

He had a season-high 34 disposals against West Coast in Round 3 at the MCG.

The triple Jack Dyer Medallist, and now premiership captain, was ranked No. 1 at Richmond for tackles, No. 2 for disposals, No. 2 for clearances, No. 2 for centre clearances, No. 2 for contested possessions and No. 3 for inside-50s.

Grimes, who had a season-high 20 disposals against Sydney in Round 13 at the MCG, averaged 10.6 disposals and 3.0 tackles per game.

He was ranked No. 3 at Richmond for one-percenters, No. 3 for disposal efficiency, No. 4 for intercepts and No. 9 for tackles.

Under the Jack Dyer Medal voting system, all of the team’s players on match day receive a rating from 0-5 based on their overall performance.

The match committee assesses each player’s offensive, defensive, and contest impacts on the game.

After those game phases have been analysed, the 0-5 rating is given, as a joint match committee decision.

Votes are not allocated for what the match committee deems a below-average performance. 

2017 Jack Dyer Medal top 20

1st        Dustin Martin, 89 votes
2nd       Alex Rance, 80 votes
3rd        Kane Lambert, 76 votes
4th        Trent Cotchin, 73 votes
5th        Dylan Grimes, 69 votes
6th        Shaun Grigg, 58 votes
7th        Jack Riewoldt, 57 votes
Equal 8th   Bachar Houli, 56 votes
Equal 8th Dan Butler, 56 votes
10th   Dion Prestia, 52 votes
11th   Brandon Ellis, 50 votes
12th   Daniel Rioli, 49 votes
Equal 13th   Shane Edwards, 45 votes
Equal 13th   Toby Nankervis, 45 votes
15th   David Astbury, 44 votes
16th   Jason Castagna, 41 votes
17th   Nick Vlastuin, 40 votes
18th   Kamdyn McIntosh, 34 votes
19th   Josh Caddy, 31 votes
20th   Nathan Broad, 19 votes