Steele Sidebottom and Brodie Grundy have capped off career-best seasons by sharing the 2018 E.W. Copeland Trophy.

The pair, both All-Australians for the first time in 2018, tied for the Collingwood best and fairest award with 203 votes and could not be separated on a countback.

Their shared victory is the first tied result since 1994, when Nathan Buckley and Gavin Brown each took home Collingwood’s highest individual honour.

Five-time E.W. Copeland Trophy winner, Scott Pendlebury, finished third (178 votes) in the count which was held tonight at Crown Palladium, with defender Jack Crisp fourth (160) and Taylor Adams fifth (159).

For Sidebottom, the victory is further recognition for an extended and rich vein of form that saw him claim his first Copeland in 2017, win an All-Australian blazer last month and collect the Gary Ayres medal as the best player of the 2018 finals series.

The 27-year-old has now either won or placed top five in the Copeland count for seven consecutive seasons.

Grundy polled a single vote in the Grand Final to draw level with Sidebottom, who did not poll in the season’s decider.

The 24-year-old was one of the two standout ruckmen in the competition in 2018 and a pillar of a Collingwood side that blossomed and began to reflect the years of recruiting and coaching which preceded the 2018 campaign.

Six of the top 10 place getters in the Copeland count – Grundy, Crisp, Adams, Tom Phillips (sixth), Jordan De Goey (eighth) and Brayden Maynard (tenth) – are 25 years of age or younger.

Other notable winners on the night were Jaidyn Stephenson, who added the Harry Collier Trophy to his Rising Star award as Collingwood’s best first year player, Adams who won the Bob Rose Award as Collingwood’s player of the finals and De Goey, who won the Gordon Coventry Award as leading goal-kicker (48).

Defender Marty Hore claimed the Joseph Wren Award as best VFL player, while midfielder Jaimee Lambert earned top honours in the VFLW competition. In Collingwood’s VWFL team, Richard Amon won the best and fairest award and Orfeo Cecconato was named best player in the Grand Final.

2018 E.W.Copeland Trophy top ten

1. Steele Sidebottom 203 votes (E.W. Copeland trophy)
1. Brodie Grundy 203 votes (E.W. Copeland Trophy)
3. Scott Pendlebury 178 votes (J.J. Joyce Trophy)
4. Jack Crisp 160 votes (J.F. McHale Trophy)
5. Taylor Adams 159 votes (Jack Regan Trophy)
6. Tom Phillips 134 votes
7. Jeremy Howe 132 votes
8. Jordan De Goey 127 votes
9. Josh Thomas 122 votes
10. Brayden Maynard 107 votes
 
Gavin Brown Award (pressure): Jack Crisp

Bob Rose Award (player of the finals): Taylor Adams

Gordon Coventry Award (leading goal-kicker): Jordan De Goey (48)
 
Harry Collier Trophy (best first year player): Jaidyn Stephenson
 
Darren Millane Perpetual Memorial Trophy (best clubman): Lynden Dunn

Joseph Wren Award (best VFL player): Marty Hore

VFLW best and fairest: Jaimee Lambert

VWFL best and fairest: Richard Amon