The honour was given to Goodes on the night the Morrish Medal was awarded to a North Ballarat Rebels player for the first time.

The top 25 players in TAC Cup history were named on the night and Goodes, who grew up in Horsham before playing 372 games for the Sydney Swans, beat out more than 1000 players to be number three on the list.

During his time at the Swans Goodes won two premierships and two Brownlow medals.

Goodes played for the Rebels in 1997 before making his AFL debut for the Swans two years later.

THE TAC CUP TOP 25 

1 Gary Ablett Jnr Geelong Falcons Geelong/Gold Coast

2 Chris Judd Sandringham Dragons West Coast/Carlton

3 Adam Goodes North Ballarat Rebels Sydney Swans

4 Brad Johnson Western Jets Western Bulldogs

5 Matthew Lloyd Western Jets Essendon

6 Luke Hodge Geelong Falcons Hawthorn

7 Sam Mitchell Eastern Ranges Hawthorn

8 Joel Selwood Bendigo Pioneers Geelong

9 Brent Harvey Northern Knights North Melbourne

10 Jonathan Brown Geelong Falcons Brisbane Lions

11 Matthew Scarlett Geelong Falcons Geelong

12 Dane Swan Calder Cannons Collingwood

13 Scott Pendlebury Gippsland Power Collingwood

14 Dustin Fletcher Western Jets Essendon

15 Barry Hall Murray Bushrangers St Kilda/Sydney/Western Bulldogs

16 Jimmy Bartel Geelong Falcons Geelong

17 Steve Johnson Murray Bushrangers Geelong/GWS

18 Jarryd Roughead Gippsland Power Hawthorn

19 Nick Dal Santo Bendigo Pioneers St Kilda/North Melbourne

20 Justin Leppitsch Dandenong Stingrays Brisbane Lions

21 Cameron Ling Geelong Falcons Geelong

22 Robert Murphy Gippsland Power Western Bulldogs

23 Chris Johnson Northern Knights Fitzroy/Brisbane Lions

24 Patrick Dangerfield Geelong Falcons Adelaide/Geelong

25 Dan Hannebery Oakleigh Chargers Sydney