The

AFL Women's Rising Star The AFL Women's Rising Star award is presented annually to the best young player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) during the home-and-away season. The first award was awarded in 2017. The award has been sponsored by National Australia Bank (NAB) since ...

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 given annually to the best young player in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

(AFLW) for the year. Two eligible players are nominated each round of the home-and-away season; the players must have been under 21 at the beginning of the year and cannot have been previously nominated. Players suspended during the year cannot win. After the season's completion, an expert panel votes on the recipient. In 2016,

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 ...

expanded its 14-year sponsorship of 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) to the women's competition, including the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to its Rising Star award, ahead of its first season in 2017. The inaugural Rising Star, who won $20,000, was announced at the AFLW's awards ceremony on 28 March, held at Peninsula, an event space in Docklands, Melbourne. The ceremony was live-streamed on the AFL's website and mobile app. The ten members of the year's voting panel were Mark Evans,

Darren Flanigan Darren Flanigan (born 8 March 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and St Kilda in the Victorian and Australian Football Leagues. Flanigan came to Geelong from the Victorian town of Katamatite and during the ...

, Ros Lanigan,

Simon Lethlean Simon Lethlean (born 17 November 1975) is a former Australian Football League (AFL) football operations manager and the current CEO of the St Kilda Football Club. Career Previously working as a commercial solicitor, Lethlean began working f ...

, Jennie Loughnan,

Peta Searle Peta Searle is a former Australian rules football, Australian rules footballer and coach. Searle was senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW) from 2020 to 2021. Searle was previously the first woman appoi ...

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 ...

Kelli Underwood Kelli Underwood (born 1977) is an Australian radio and television sports journalist and sportscaster specialising in Australian rules football, netball and tennis. She was the first woman to call an Australian Football League match on televisi ...

, Josh Vanderloo and Shelley Ware.

Ebony Marinoff Ebony Marinoff (born 15 November 1997) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Marinoff is a three-time AFL Women's premiership player and five-time AFL Women's All-Australian, and w ...

of was the inaugural winner, earning 47 votes. A

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, she led the league in

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, laying a total of 70 for the season. She played in Adelaide's premiership side and was also named on the

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of t ...

in the season's AFLW All-Australian team. amassed the most nominations during the season, with four players (

Deanna Berry Deanna Berry (born 7 May 1998) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She was drafted by Melbourne with their second selection and ninth overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her ...

, Jasmine Grierson,

Lily Mithen Lily Mithen (born 2 March 1998) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was drafted by Melbourne with their tenth selection and seventy-third overall in the 2016 AFL Women ...

and Katherine Smith) selected.

Nominations

Final voting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:AFL Women's Rising Star, 2017 2017 AFL Women's season Australian rules football-related lists

Nominations

Final voting

See also

References