TheGardiner Medal was anAustralian rules football award, formerly awarded to thebest and fairest player in theVFL Reserves competition.
Officially named the Seconds prior to 1959 and the Reserves from 1959 onwards, the competition ran from 1919 until 1999 and the medal was first awarded in 1926.
The Medal was named in honour of Frank Gardiner, a former president of theVFL Seconds.
The award was voted for by the field umpires at the conclusion of each match in the same format as used in the senior grade'sBrownlow Medal.
As for theBrownlow Medal, ties were originally decided on a countback of who received the most "best-on-ground" votes. In 1992 three players who had previously been eliminated on a countback were awarded medals retrospectively for seasons 1950, 1970 and 1971.