This trophy was awarded irregularly until the 1960s. It was named after Brian Evans from 1972–84, and was re-christened the Bob Rose Award in 1988, in honour of one of our most revered figures.
Bob Rose has long been considered one of the greatest players in our history, regularly ranked in the top three Magpies by those who saw him play. And while he was always renowned as a big-game player who thrived on the biggest stages, he took his game to a new level during the 1953 finals campaign, when he led an injury-decimated outfit to a Premiership over a Geelong side that had gone into the season as unbackable favourites. Indeed it was a goal he kicked late in the last quarter of the 1953 Grand Final that sealed our win over the Cats.
