it is named after former western australian footballers ross glendinning, a brownlow medallist with north melbourne and the inaugural captain of the west coast eagles, and ben allan, a former hawthorn premiership player and the inaugural fremantle captain. the medal, initially named the ross glendinning medal, was first presented in 2001. in 2018 the name was changed to acknowledge both fremantle's and west coast's inaugural captains. retrospective medals were also awarded to the best player from the initial 12 derbies between 1995 and 2000. the medal is voted by selection of media representatives and joint medals are presented in the event of more than one player finishing with the equal-highest number of votes.