AFL Rising Star 2022 : Winners, Eligibility, Awards

The AFL Rising Star award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League for the year.

AFL Rising Star 2022 : Winners, Eligibility, Awards

It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buckley, playing for the Brisbane Bears.

Awarded for	The best young player in the Australian Football League
Sponsored by	Norwich Union Australia (1993–2000) Ansett Australia (2001) National Australia Bank (2002–present)
Presented by	Australian Football League

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.

The award was sponsored by Norwich Union Australia from its inception in 1993 until 2000.

The AFL then secured a six-year sponsorship deal with Ansett Australia in 2001, that included the Rising Star award; however, this agreement only lasted the one season following the collapse of Ansett in September 2001.National Australia Bank (NAB) has sponsored the award since 2002.

An equivalent award has existed in the AFL Women’s league since its inception in 2017.

AFL Rising Star 2022 Winners

The clubs with the most AFL Rising Star awards are the Fremantle Dockers, Melbourne Demons and Sydney Swans, with three awards won by players representing these teams. 

History
First award	1993
First winner	Nathan Buckley
Most recent	Luke Jackson (2021)

Greater Western Sydney Giants’ eight nominations in the 2012 season is the most any club has achieved in a season.

The most recent recipient of the award is Melbourne’s Luke Jackson, winning in 2021.

AFL Rising Star 2022 Eligibility

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.

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.

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.

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 three winners who have accumulated the maximum votes in their season: Jared Rivers (2004), Daniel Rich (2009), and Dan Hannebery (2010).

Awards

The AFL Rising Star Award was instituted in 1993 to recognise and encourage talented young players in the AFL.  After each round of the home and away games, a player is nominated and at the end of the season a panel of experts selects the winner.

The winner must be under the age of 21 at January 1 of that year, must not have played more than 10 games at the start of the season and must not have been suspended by the AFL or State League tribunals during the season.

Recipient	Year	Club	Votes
Jaeger O’Meara	2013	Gold Coast	44
Lewis Taylor	2014	Brisbane Lions	39
Jesse Hogan	2015	Melbourne	49
Callum Mills	2016	Sydney	49
Andrew McGrath	2017	Essendon	51
Jaidyn Stephenson	2018	Collingwood	52
Sam Walsh	2019	Carlton	54
Caleb Serong	2020	Fremantle	48
Luke Jackson	2021	Melbourne	51

In 2007, the Rising Star Award was named in memory of former AFL Commission Chairman Ron Evans and the winner receives the Ron Evans Medal.

The inaugural award was won by Nathan Buckley in his first season for Brisbane in 1993. The only Magpie to have won it while playing with Collingwood was Jaidyn Stephenson in 2018.