Dane Swan tonight became just the fourth player in the history of the Collingwood Football Club to win three-consecutive Copeland Trophy awards. 
 
In front of 1800 guests at Crown’s Palladium Ballroom, the premiership midfielder polled 67 votes to beat fellow 2010 All Australian Scott Pendlebury (60 votes), with Dale Thomas recording his best ever finish, placing third with 54 votes. 
 
26-year-old Swan joins club legends Phonse Kyne (1946-48), Bob Rose (1951-53) and Nathan Buckley (1998-2000) as the only Magpies to have won the best-and-fairest for three-straight years. He becomes the ninth player ever to win at least three Copeland Trophies.
 
2006 winner Alan Didak was acknowledged for his outstanding year by finishing fourth with 51 votes, while Luke Ball completed a remarkable first season in black and white stripes by rounding out the top five with 48 votes. 
 
Swan, who played all 26 matches this year for a career total of 151, including an active streak of 111 consecutive games, was also named the Players’ Association MVP, the Coaches’ Association MVP, and won a plethora of media awards. 
 
He elevated himself even further by jointly winning the Bob Rose Trophy as the Magpies’ best player in the triumphant finals campaign, along with Thomas and skipper Nick Maxwell. 
 
Swan’s 67 votes were 10 more than what he polled when he won in 2009, and 14 more than his 2008 triumph. The same voting system applied in these years.
 
Pendlebury, meanwhile, capped his brilliant year which included his Norm Smith Medal- winning performance in the Grand Final Replay, by recording his third top-three finish in the Copeland voting (2nd - 2007, 3rd - 2008) in just his fifth season of AFL football.
 
Thomas’ previous highest finish in the best-and-fairest was sixth in 2007, and on top of his third- placing he was fittingly rewarded for his superb finals campaign. He and Pendlebury both played their 100th AFL games in 2010 after both were top-five draft picks at the end of 2005. 
 
Didak, who also won his first Gordon Coventry Trophy as the Magpies’ leading goal kicker with 41 goals, including a season-best of four goals in round one, as well as four hauls of three majors and a further nine two-goal games, earned his second-straight top-five finish. 
 
Fifth-placed Ball was another recipient of multiple trophies, with the 26-year-old also taking home the Gavin Brown Award for most desire indicators, an award won for the past three seasons by Nick Maxwell and held in high esteem by the playing group.
 
Dayne Beams capped an outstanding second season by finishing sixth with 42 votes, Maxwell was seventh, and Beams’ fellow 2009 debutant Steele Sidebottom was eighth. 2010 All Australian Harry O’Brien finished ninth, while first-year Magpie Darren Jolly rounded out the top 10 after a great season in the ruck. 
 
After five rounds, Thomas and Didak held equal top spot on the Copeland count, but Swan took the lead in round six and from there was never headed, although he only led at the halfway mark by one vote from Ball. 
 
Swan then streaked away with a series of commanding performances between rounds 11- 15, and going into the finals held a six-vote lead from Pendlebury. 
 
On four occasions Swan polled four votes in a single-game (rounds 12, 15, 17 and the qualifying final against the Bulldogs), the highest number any player polled in any one game in 2010. Only three other players - Heath Shaw, Darren Jolly and Alan Didak - polled four votes in a single game, and each player did so just once. 
 
Maxwell added to being joint best finals player by winning the Darren Millane Trophy as best clubman for the second time. Maxwell, Thomas and Swan shared the Bob Rose Trophy with 11 votes each in the finals series.
 
18-year-old former NSW scholarship holder Tom Young, who was recently elevated onto the senior list for 2011, won the VFL Magpies’ best-and-fairest, while another recently elevated rookie, Jarryd Blair, was acknowledged for his excellent debut season by winning the Harry Collier Trophy as the best first-year player. 
 
2010 Copeland Trophy - Top 10
1st Dane Swan  67 (EW Copeland Trophy)
2nd Scott Pendlebury 60 (RT Rush Trophy)
3rd Dale Thomas  54 (JJ Joyce Trophy)
4th Alan Didak  51 (JF McHale Trophy)
5th Luke Ball  48 (Jack Regan Trophy)

6th Dayne Beams  42
7th Nick Maxwell  41
8th Steele Sidebottom 41
9th Harry O’Brien  40
10th Darren Jolly  39
 
Other 2010 award winners
Joseph Wren Trophy (Best VFL Player) - Tom Young
Darren Millane Trophy (Best Clubman) - Nick Maxwell 
Harry Collier Trophy (Best First Year Player) - Jarryd Blair 
Gordon Coventry Trophy (Leading Goal Kicker) - Alan Didak, 41 goals
Gavin Brown Award (Leading Desire Indicators) - Luke Ball
Bob Rose Award (Best Player in Finals) - Dane Swan, Nick Maxwell, Dale Thomas (equal)
Phonse Kyne Trophy (For Services to the Club) - Rohan Bownds
 
Most Copeland Trophies
6 - Nathan Buckley (1994, 96, 98, 99, 00, 03)
 
5 - Len Thompson (1967, 68, 72, 73, 77)
 
4 - Bob Rose (1949, 51, 52, 53) 

3 - Albert Collier (1929, 34, 35), Des Fothergill (1937, 38, 40), Phonse Kyne (1946, 47, 48), Murray Weideman (1957, 61, 62), Gavin Brown (1989, 94, 97), Dane Swan (2008, 09, 10)

2 - Harry Collier (1928, 30), Syd Coventry (1927, 32), Thorold Merrett (1958, 59), Wayne Richardson (1971, 74), Peter Moore (1979, 80), Billy Picken (1978, 83), Mark Williams (1981, 85), Tony Shaw (1984, 90), Mick McGuane (1992, 93), Paul Licuria, (2001, 02), James Clement (2004, 05)
 
The EW Copeland Trophy voting system
1. Each player is allocated one vote for each game in which he is selected to represent the Collingwood Football Club.
 
2. Up to 20 votes per game can be allocated to the best players as judged by the
Collingwood Match Committee. Votes are awarded based on the average vote of all members of the Match Committee.
 
3. In the event that two or more players finish with the same number of votes then the player who has played in the least amount of games takes the higher position. If these players have played the same number of games then the player who has polled the greater number of “high value” votes will take the higher position.
 
About the EW Copeland Trophy
The EW Copeland Trophy perpetuates the memory of Mr Ern Copeland, who was secretary of Collingwood from 1901-23. During that time he became one of the best known football personalities in Australia, renowned for his geniality and capacity for friendship. 

He was a tireless worker and his services to football earned him Life Membership of the VFL.

As club secretary, VFL delegate and later vice-president, he did much to help place Collingwood in the proud position it has held throughout the years.