The AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a standout young player in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. The award is also known as the Norwich Rising Star due to sponsorship reasons. This was the first season the medal was awarded and the award went to Brisbane Bears player Nathan Buckley

Nathan Buckley

Nathan Charles Buckley is a former professional Australian rules football player, commentator and coach, best known for his time as captain of the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League ....

.

Eligibility and nominations

Every round, an Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 rising star nomination is given to a standout young player. To be eligible for the award, a player must be under 21 on January 1 of that year, have played 10 or fewer senior games and not been suspended during the season. At the end of the year, one of the 22 nominees is the winner of award.

Nominations

Round	Player	Club
1	Peter Everitt Peter Everitt Peter "Spida" Everitt is a former Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda, Hawthorn Hawks and the Sydney Swans in the AFL. He made his debut for St Kilda in 1993 and in 2003 began playing for Hawthorn. Everitt was traded to the Sydney Swans at the end of 2006. Following the club's 2008...	St Kilda Saints
2	Shane Crawford Shane Crawford Shane Barry Crawford is a former Australian rules footballer, having played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League...	Hawthorn Hawks Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
3	Nathan Chapman Nathan Chapman (footballer) Nathan Chapman was a former Australian rules footballer who had a short career in the Australian Football League before a brief stint as an American Football punter...	Brisbane Bears
4	Joe Misiti Joe Misiti "Smokin" Joe Misiti is a former Australian rules football player of Italian descent who played for the Essendon Football Club. Originally from Keilor Park, he made his Australian Football League debut in 1992 and retired at the end of the 2004 premiership season with 236 games to his credit...	Essendon Bombers Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
5	Scott West Scott West Scott West is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League...	Footscray Bulldogs
6	David Neitz David Neitz David Neitz , nicknamed Neita, is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne player to achieve the 300-game milestone.Neitz was born in...	Melbourne Demons Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
7	Nathan Buckley Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley is a former professional Australian rules football player, commentator and coach, best known for his time as captain of the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League ....	Brisbane Bears
8	James Hird James Hird James Hird is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the current coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League....	Essendon Bombers Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
9	Dustin Fletcher Dustin Fletcher Dustin Fletcher is an Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club. He is renowned as one of the finest defenders in the AFL, and has played at full-back for his team for many years. He is the son of former Bombers captain Ken Fletcher...	Essendon Bombers Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
10	Matthew Richardson Matthew Richardson (Australian rules footballer) Matthew "Richo" Richardson , is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League...	Richmond Tigers Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
11	Brodie Atkinson Brodie Atkinson Brodie Atkinson is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League.Atkinson made his debut for St Kilda after being a first-round draft pick in the 1992 AFL Draft. In his debut match he had 25 touches and earned an AFL Rising Star nomination, but was dropped after...	St Kilda Saints
12	Glenn Archer Glenn Archer Glenn Archer is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the North Melbourne Football Club.Archer had a reputation as one of the most courageous players ever to play the game...	North Melbourne Kangaroos North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
13	Saverio Rocca Saverio Rocca Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...	Collingwood Magpies Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
14	Darren Kowal Darren Kowal Darren Kowal is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Australian Football League during the 1990s....	Melbourne Demons Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
15	Duncan Kellaway Duncan Kellaway Duncan Kellaway is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League ....	Richmond Tigers Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
16	Mark Ricciuto Mark Ricciuto Mark Anthony Ricciuto is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League...	Adelaide Crows
17	Ilija Grgic Ilija Grgic Ilija Grgic is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray, the West Coast Eagles and Essendon in the Australian Football League during the 1990s....	Footscray Bulldogs
18	Ang Christou Ang Christou Ang Christou is a former Australian rules footballer for Carlton in the Australian Football League.-Football career:Christou played for the Carlton Football Club and along with Anthony Koutoufides was a popular figure as a Greek Australian.In 2001, Christou had a solid pre-season, but missed the...	Carlton Blues Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
19	Ricky Olarenshaw	Essendon Bombers Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
20	Mark Mercuri Mark Mercuri Mark Mercuri was a professional Australian rules football player for Essendon. He played in the 1993 Grand final winning team which defeated Carlton...	Essendon Bombers Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
21	Brad Nicholson Brad Nicholson Brad Nicholson is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Australian Football League .Nicholson, originally from Doncaster Heights, was a reserves footballer for Carlton before he came to Footscray...	Footscray Bulldogs
22	Leigh Colbert Leigh Colbert Leigh Colbert is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Kangaroos in the Australian Football League .-1993–1999: Geelong:...	Geelong Cats Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...