AFL grand final: Shai Bolton was the fifth-best player on ground, according to Fremantle and Brisbane coaches

Fremantle and Brisbane’s coaches have had their say on which player deserved best-on-ground honours in the grand final - and Norm Smith medallist Shai Bolton wasn’t among their top four picks.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE VOTES

Brisbane’s Will Ashcroft earned top votes for the decider in the AFL Coaches Association’s Gary Ayres Award for best finals player, narrowly edging out Dockers star Caleb Serong.

Ashcroft polled 13.5 votes and Serong got 12. Luke Jackson and Josh Dunkley were the next best at 6 apiece, with Bolton fifth on the grand final leaderboard with 4.5

Dayne Zorko and Hayden Young were others to earn votes with 1.5. Coaches from each club voted on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with votes from the decider given 1.5-times weighting.

The tally produced an interesting contrast to Norm Smith voting, which had Bolton winning with 10 votes across five judges who used a 3-2-1 format. Ashcroft and Zorko were equal-second in that award with six votes each.

Bolton’s Norm Smith win marked the first time since Chris Judd in 2005 that a player from the losing side has earned the nod. Judd was one of the five judges on Saturday.

Ashcroft’s grand final display helped him secure the Gary Ayres Award for a second year running. He finished on 27.5 votes ahead of Serong (23) and Jackson (19), with Bolton and Hayden Young equal-fourth.

GARY AYRES AWARD - GRAND FINAL VOTING

• 13.5: Will Ashcroft (BL)
• 12: Caleb Serong (FRE)
• 6: Luke Jackson (FRE)
• 6: Josh Dunkley (BL)
• 4.5: Shai Bolton (FRE)
• 1.5: Dayne Zorko (BL)
• 1.5: Hayden Young (FRE)

GARY AYRES AWARD - FINAL LEADERBOARD

• 27.5: Will Ashcroft (BL)
• 23: Caleb Serong (FRE)
• 19: Luke Jackson (FRE)
• 13.5: Shai Bolton (FRE)
• 13.5: Hayden Young (FRE)
• 13: Nick Watson (HAW)