Gary Ayres Medal: Luke Jackson polls top votes to surge to lead in Player of the Finals award

Luke Jackson has surged to the lead in the race to be crowned the finals series’ best player, with his semifinal masterclass earning him top votes from the coaches in the Gary Ayres Medal.

Jackson was acknowledged for his superb all-round performance in the win over Geelong, which included a stunning burst late in the third term to help swing the momentum of the match.

The star Fremantle ruckman earned 10 votes for the display, with fellow big-name Docker Shai Bolton assessed the next-best on ground with six votes following his blazing start to the game.

Hayden Young (four), Pat Voss (two) and Caleb Serong (one) were the other Freo players to poll.

The perfect score lifts Jackson to 11 on the Gary Ayres Medal leaderboard, one vote clear of the next-closest player still active in the finals series in Brisbane’s Zac Bailey.

Jackson’s fantastic final continued a brilliant season where he achieved All-Australian selection and finished 10th in the AFL Coaches Association’s Champion Player of the Year award.

He joined Serong as the only Freo players to be unanimously voted best-on-ground by the coaches in a final since the Gary Ayres Medal was first brought in a decade ago.

Grand final votes receive 1.5-times loading for the medal, which was last year won by Norm Smith medallist Will Ashcroft.