AFL Rising Star

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

[9] A player is nominated for the award each round during the AFL season by a panel of experts.

[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.

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.

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 ]