AFL Rising Star
Awarded forThe best young player in the Australian Football League
Sponsored byNorwich Union Australia (1993–2000)
Ansett Australia (2001)
National Australia Bank (2002–2022)
Presented byAustralian Football League
History
First award1993
First winnerNathan Buckley
Most recentHarry Sheezel (2023)
Websiteafl.com.au/rising-star

The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buckley, playing for the Brisbane Bears.[1] The recipient of the AFL Rising Star has been awarded the Ron Evans Medal since 2007, named in honour of the former AFL Commission chairman following his death that year.[1]

The award was sponsored by Norwich Union Australia from its inception in 1993 until 2000.[2] The AFL then secured a six-year sponsorship deal with Ansett Australia in 2001 that included the Rising Star award;[2] however, this agreement only lasted the one season following the collapse of Ansett in September 2001.[3] National Australia Bank sponsored the award for two decades from 2002 to 2022, marking the longest commercial partnership in the award's history;[4][5] they were not replaced by any sponsor for the 2023 edition.[6] An equivalent award has existed in the AFL Women's league since its inception in 2017.[7]

The clubs with the most AFL Rising Star awards are Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney, with three awards won by players representing these teams. Greater Western Sydney's eight nominations in the 2012 season is the most any club has achieved in a season.[8] The most recent recipient of the award is North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel, winning in 2023.[9]

Eligibility and nominations

A player is nominated for the award each round during the AFL season by a panel of experts.[10] The nominee is usually chosen based on their performance in that particular round; however, for nominations closer to the end of the year, the player's performance over the whole season is taken into consideration.[11] To be eligible for nomination, the player must be under the age of 21 at 1 January that year, and have played ten or fewer AFL games as of the start of the season.[10] A player can only be nominated once per season; if a player is suspended during the season, he may be nominated, but will not be eligible to win the award.[nb 1][13] At the completion of the regular season, each member of the voting panel independently awards five votes, four votes, three votes, two votes and one vote to the nominated players they regard as the best to fifth-best during the season; the player with the highest total of votes wins the medal.[14]

As the number of voting members varies between seasons, the maximum number of votes a player can poll is not consistent. There have been only four winners who have accumulated the maximum votes in their season: Jared Rivers (2004), Daniel Rich (2009), Dan Hannebery (2010) and Nick Daicos (2022).[15][16]

It is possible for a player to be nominated in multiple seasons, as long as he still satisfies the age and experience criteria in each year. Sixteen players have been nominated twice for a Rising Star award:[17]

Recipients

A male athlete with light hair wearing a polo shirt and pants walks on the grass surface of the playing arena.
Nathan Buckley was the inaugural AFL Rising Star in 1993.[18]
A male athlete with light hair wearing a sleeveless guernsey and shorts jogs on the grass surface of the playing arena.
Nick Riewoldt was the 2002 AFL Rising Star.[19]
A male athlete with light hair wearing a sleeveless guernsey and shorts jogs on the grass surface of the playing arena.
Dan Hannebery polled the maximum votes possible in the 2010 AFL Rising Star.[16]
A male athlete with brown hair wearing a sleeveless guernsey and shorts prepares to handball a yellow football.
Jaeger O'Meara was the 2013 AFL Rising Star.[20]
Table key
^ Player polled maximum votes
Table of recipients
Recipient Year Club Votes Ref.
Nathan Buckley 1993 Brisbane Bears Unknown[nb 2] [18]
Chris Scott 1994 Brisbane Bears [21]
Nick Holland 1995 Hawthorn [22]
Ben Cousins 1996 West Coast 15 [23]
Michael Wilson 1997 Port Adelaide 27 [24]
Byron Pickett 1998 North Melbourne 30 [25]
Adam Goodes 1999 Sydney 33 [26]
Paul Hasleby 2000 Fremantle 33 [27]
Justin Koschitzke 2001 St Kilda 31 [28]
Nick Riewoldt 2002 St Kilda 34 [19]
Sam Mitchell 2003 Hawthorn 33 [29]
Jared Rivers 2004 Melbourne 45^ [30]
Brett Deledio 2005 Richmond 43 [31]
Danyle Pearce 2006 Port Adelaide 43 [32]
Joel Selwood 2007 Geelong 44 [33]
Rhys Palmer 2008 Fremantle 44 [34]
Daniel Rich 2009 Brisbane Lions 45^ [15]
Dan Hannebery 2010 Sydney 45^ [16]
Dyson Heppell 2011 Essendon 44 [35]
Daniel Talia 2012 Adelaide 43 [36]
Jaeger O'Meara 2013 Gold Coast 44 [20]
Lewis Taylor 2014 Brisbane Lions 39 [37]
Jesse Hogan 2015 Melbourne 49 [38]
Callum Mills 2016 Sydney 49 [39]
Andrew McGrath 2017 Essendon 51 [40]
Jaidyn Stephenson 2018 Collingwood 52 [41]
Sam Walsh 2019 Carlton 54 [42]
Caleb Serong 2020 Fremantle 48 [43]
Luke Jackson 2021 Melbourne 51 [44]
Nick Daicos 2022 Collingwood 60^ [45]
Harry Sheezel 2023 North Melbourne 54 [9]

Club totals

Table key
† Club no longer participates in the AFL
Table of clubs' totals
Club Total Years
Sydney 3 1999, 2010, 2016
Fremantle 3 2000, 2008, 2020
Melbourne 3 2004, 2015, 2021
Brisbane Bears† 2 1993, 1994
St Kilda 2 2001, 2002
Hawthorn 2 1995, 2003
Port Adelaide 2 1997, 2006
Brisbane Lions 2 2009, 2014
Essendon 2 2011, 2017
Collingwood 2 2018, 2022
North Melbourne 2 1998, 2023
West Coast 1 1996
Richmond 1 2005
Geelong 1 2007
Adelaide 1 2012
Gold Coast 1 2013
Carlton 1 2019
Greater Western Sydney 0 —
Western Bulldogs 0 —
Fitzroy† 0 —

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Under the 2005–2014 match review panel system, a player was ineligible if he was given a base sanction of 100 or more demerit points by the tribunal or match review panel, equivalent to a one-week suspension. Under some circumstances, a player could reduce a penalty from a one-week suspension (125 demerit points) to a reprimand without suspension (92.75 points) by accepting a 25 per cent reduction with an early guilty plea; as the base points sanction in this case exceeds 100, he would become ineligible for the award, despite not being suspended. This was the same eligibility criterion used in the Brownlow Medal. Since 2015, if a player is suspended for more than one match after an early plea or tribunal case, then he is ineligible to win the award.[12]
  2. ^ Voting was not made public for awards prior to 1996.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "NAB AFL Rising Star - History". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Niall, Jake (31 March 2001). "AFL tips doubling of sponsor income". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. p. 20.
  3. ^ Lyon, Karen; Denham, Greg (15 September 2001). "Airline crisis hits finals and sponsor deals". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. p. 22.
  4. ^ Wilson, Caroline (3 August 2002). "AFL banks on rising star millions to plug the sponsorship hole". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. p. 18.
  5. ^ "NAB Rising Star program launched". aflnswact.com.au. AFL NSW/ACT. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Eligible players for the 2023 AFL Rising Star Award and All-Australian Selection Panel announced". AFL.com.au. 14 March 2023. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  7. ^ Black, Sarah (28 March 2017). "Crows teenager Ebony Marinoff named AFLW Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Carlton aiming for Rising Star history". Triple M. Southern Cross Austereo. 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b "North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel crowned the 2023 AFL Rising Star". AFL.com.au. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Who is eligible for the NAB AFL Rising Star award?". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. ^ Zita, David (16 September 2020). "'Absolute joke': Crows lead charge over 'almighty snub' - but here's why he was overlooked". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  12. ^ King, Travis (25 November 2014). "No more demerit points as AFL aims for simpler MRP". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  13. ^ Conn, Malcolm (4 September 2012). "Toby Greene to miss out as Giants rue luck". news.com.au. News Limited. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  14. ^ Meldrum, Ethan (1 September 2017). "The full judges voting for the 2017 NAB Rising Star". Triple M. Southern Cross Austereo. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  15. ^ a b c Holmesby, Luke (2 September 2009). "Rich wins rising star". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Brodie, Will (1 September 2010). "Swan Hannebery wins Rising Star Award". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  17. ^ McGowan, Marc (21 May 2018). "Lion joins dual Rising Star nom club". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  18. ^ a b Hobbs, Greg (11 September 1993). "Norwich Rising Star: Nathan Buckley". Football Record. p. 16. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via State Library of Victoria.
  19. ^ a b Quayle, Emma (18 September 2002). "Prophecy comes true as Riewoldt named new star". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. p. 2. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  20. ^ a b Bowen, Nick (4 September 2013). "O'Meara named Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  21. ^ Browne, Ashley (14 September 1994). "AFL's rising star award goes to Brisbane rookie". The Age. p. 34. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Browne, Ashley (14 September 1995). "Hawks to offer Holland one year". The Age. p. 34. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Award confirms a teenager's class and loyalty". The Age. 11 September 1996. p. 56. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Port youngster grabs rising star award". The Age. Australian Associated Press. 10 September 1997. p. 26. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Roo rises from the pack to win award". Newcastle Herald. 9 September 1998. p. 85.
  26. ^ Blake, Martin (9 August 1999). "Goodes named Rising Star". The Age. p. 3.
  27. ^ Niall, Jake (16 August 2000). "Hasleby is king of the kids". The Age. p. 3.
  28. ^ Poulter, Geoff (12 September 2001). "Young Saint makes splash". Herald Sun. p. 80.
  29. ^ "Mitchell named 2003 Rising Star". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Australian Associated Press. 3 September 2003. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  30. ^ "Rivers wins Rising Star award". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 September 2004. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Tigers' Deledio wins AFL's rising star award". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 August 2005. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  32. ^ "Power's Pearce scoops rising star award". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 September 2006. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  33. ^ "Cats' Selwood wins 2007 rising star". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  34. ^ "Palmer claims Rising Star". ABC News. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  35. ^ "Dyson Heppell wins 2011 AFL Rising Star Award". essendonfc.com.au. Telstra Media. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  36. ^ Holmesby, Luke; Twomey, Callum (5 September 2012). "Talia claims Rising Star". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Brisbane's Lewis Taylor wins AFL Rising Star Award". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Australian Associated Press. 3 September 2014. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  38. ^ "Melbourne's Jesse Hogan wins AFL Rising Star award". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group. Australian Associated Press. 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  39. ^ Lane, Samantha (6 September 2016). "Callum Mills wins 2016 AFL Rising Star award". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  40. ^ "Essendon's Andrew McGrath wins AFL's Rising Star award". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Australian Associated Press. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  41. ^ Guthrie, Ben (31 August 2018). "Pie rises high: Stephenson the NAB AFL Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  42. ^ Beveridge, Riley (30 August 2019). "Blue jet wins Rising Star award, but it's not unanimous". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  43. ^ Twomey, Callum (24 September 2020). "A Rising Star is born: Serong almost perfect, gun Sun runner-up". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  44. ^ Twomey, Callum (15 September 2021). "Action Jackson: Young Demon crowned Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  45. ^ Twomey, Callum (24 August 2022). "Inside the rapid ascent of the 'unmatched' Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 24 August 2022.

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