The AFL Rising Star is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) for the year. An eligible player is nominated for the award each round during the AFL's regular season, and a panel of experts votes for the winner at the end of the season. During the 2017 season, the award was sponsored by

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

, and the winner announced in a presentation held on 1 September 2017 and broadcast on subscription television by Fox Footy. The voting panel for this season consisted of eleven members, all of whom were AFL officials or former players: Kevin Bartlett, Luke Darcy, Andrew Dillon, Danny Frawley, Glen Jakovich, Chris Johnson, Cameron Ling, Gillon McLachlan, Matthew Richardson, Warren Tredrea and

Kevin Sheehan Kevin Vincent Sheehan OAM (born 1 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and the current Australian Football League (AFL) National Talent and International Manager, a member of the AFL football operations sub-commit ...

. The winner was Essendon player

Andrew McGrath Andrew McGrath (born June 2, 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the first overall selection i ...

, who polled 51 votes. McGrath became only the third number-one draft pick to win the award, and the second Essendon recipient. The club that garnered the most individual nominations this season was

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

with five players nominated for the award. This was a club record and the equal-second most nominations a club has garnered in an individual season, behind

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

's eight nominations in the 2012 season. Brisbane Lions player Alex Witherden, who received a nomination in round 17, was nominated for the award again in the 2018 season—becoming the eleventh player ever to be nominated twice for a Rising Star award.

Nominations

Final voting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:AFL Rising Star, 2017 Afl Rising Star, 2017 Australian rules football-related lists

Nominations

Final voting

See also

References