“Most influential”: Why Victorian coaches chose Giant over Daicos, Bontempelli for E. J. Whitten Medal

The highly anticipated return of representative best-on-best football was a resounding success on Saturday night, with Victoria staving off a hard-fought effort from Western Australia to claim a four-goal victory.

While discussing the result is hardly worth a debate, one contentious outcome of the AFL's revival of the marquee fixture was the recipients of the most outstanding player medals.

The debate stemmed from GWS' Lachie Ash "unanimously" being named as Victoria's best on ground by his coaches and state selector Garry Lyon, despite several other Big V superstars staking a strong claim for the E. J. Whitten Medal.

Ash finished with 25 disposals for the game at 88 per cent efficiency, as well as a match-high nine intercept possessions and nine rebound 50s, with his composure off half-back cited as the main reason for his nomination for the honour.

That was particularly evident during the dying stages of the final quarter, when Ash made an intercept and then dash from half-back to prevent a scoring chance from Western Australia, which could have seen the margin reduced to two points.

Instead, it became a 12-point swing, with his run-and-carry setting up a critical Patrick Dangerfield goal to extend Victoria's lead back out to 14 points, where it was never relinquished.

However, the midfield powerhouse of Nick Daicos, Zak Butters and Marcus Bontempelli could each understandably feel slighted for not being recognised for the individual honour, with the trio racking up monster numbers across the board.

Daicos recorded a remarkable 38 disposals - a dominant game-high - while also contributing four direct goal assists, plus a goal of his own.

Bontempelli was at his attacking best in the engine room, setting up eight inside 50s and 15 score involvements from his 30 touches.

Butter was incredibly clean by foot, notching 27 disposals at 78 per cent efficiency, with the Port Adelaide superstar also contributing 11 score involvements for the day.

But Victoria coach Chris Scott revealed why those superstar names were ignored in favour of the unsung Ash, whose strong play in the crucial moments captivated the Victorian panel.

"There was a little bit of debate but in the end, it was unanimous for Lachie," Scott said post-game.

"I don't mind jumping outside my lane a bit here - we had Lachie in a group with Daicos, Butters and Bontempelli. But in the end, we thought that when the game was really hot and we were under pressure, we thought Lachie was the most influential."

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Ash was beyond grateful for the recognition post-game, opening up about how he felt nervous flying over to Western Australia to be a part of the Victorian side, given the number of mega-stars he was surrounded by.

But the award is something that will motivate him to bring his best to GWS in 2026, using the medal as a reminder of the heights his game can reach when he is fully confident in his abilities.

"It's a privilege and honour to be here this week," Ash said.

"As I said on the ground, I was nervous coming over this week and whether or not I belonged.

"When you look at the names on the team sheet, [there are] players who have been good for a really long time or they're stars of our competition. I doubted myself whether I was up to it or not.

"But the boys were really good, Scott and the coaches were really good.

"That was part of Gary Lyon's message before we ran out, that we're all here for a reason and there's no point being here and trying to jump out of the road of other players.

"I'll take real confidence out of the whole week, whether or not I was the best player on the ground. I've proven to myself that I belong here and I'll take that confidence back to club level.

"I was happy with my year last year but there's certainly runs to go. I'll use this as motivation to live up to this expectation of the medal."