In Australian rules football, a player can take a mark by catching the ball from a kick, which earns protection from tackles.

The competition was initiated following Alex Jesaulenko's mark over Graeme "Jerker" Jenkin in the 1970 VFL Grand Final ; the medal awarded to the winner now bears his name.

[2][5] As of 2024, winners receive a prize of A$50,000 in cash, a $10,000 donation to their junior club, two million Velocity Points for air travel (valued at approximately $40,000–$80,000 depending on how they are used), and the Alex Jesaulenko Medal.

[6] For the majority of the competition's existence, the overall winner has been rewarded with a car, typically the model of whichever auto manufacturer was sponsoring the award at the time.

[9][10] Such is the ongoing public association between taking mark of the year and winning "the car", multiple players have believed such a prize was still awarded more than a decade after its cessation.

At one stage, the overall winner was determined purely by the public, which led to widespread outrage in 2017 when Essendon's Joe Daniher took out the title over a mark taken by Collingwood's Jeremy Howe, which many deemed to be one of the greatest of all time.

Ironically, the Alex Jesaulenko Medal itself was inspired by a famous mark he took in the 1970 VFL Grand Final, which, under the current rules, would not have been eligible for the award (had it existed at the time).

[55][56] Many other semi-professional and amateur Australian rules football leagues also run an equivalent competition, with the increasing prevalence of league-wide web broadcasting allowing for a more comprehensive nomination process.