AFL NAB Rising Star: All the stats on 2018 nominees ahead of award

Mick Stirling

AFL NAB Rising Star: All the stats on 2018 nominees ahead of award image

The AFL Rising Star winner will be announced on Friday in what looks like having come down to a three-horse race.

Collingwood forward Jaidyn Stephenson is the favourite with many experts after a good season with some standout performances, including a bag of five goals in the Magpies’ surprise win over Adelaide – the game for which he was nominated.

Second-year Brisbane defender Alex Witherden has also been exceptional this year after playing nine games in 2017. The young Lion’s numbers are the best of all nominees by a long way and the main thing against him winning the Rising Star award could be the fact he’s hidden away in Queensland.

Adelaide defender Tom Doedee has been super impressive down back for the Crows, effectively taking over the role vacated by Jake Lever. This was Doedee’s third year on Adelaide’s list but he hadn’t played a game before 2018, debuting in round one.

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And no one was left thinking Brisbane had made a mistake using the first pick in last year’s draft on Cameron Rayner as the Dustin Martin clone cranked up his year after a slow start.

Some of the hot favourites for the award at the beginning of the season failed to get a nomination, including Richmond premiership player Jack Graham, massive Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy and highly fancied North Melbourne midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke.

Round one: Riley Bonner (Port Adelaide Power)
Games played: 19
Ave kicks: 11.5
Ave handballs: 5.7
Ave disposals: 17.2
Ave marks: 4.4
Ave tackles: 1.3
Goals: Three

Round two: Tom Doedee (Adelaide Crows)
Games played: 20
Ave kicks: 8.4
Ave handballs: 9.7
Ave disposals: 18.1
Ave marks: 5.6
Ave tackles: 3.0
Goals: Two

Round three: Sam Murray (Collingwood Magpies)
Games played: 13
Ave kicks: 12.2
Ave handballs: 8.7
Ave disposals: 20.8
Ave marks: 5.2
Ave tackles: 1.6
Goals: Nil

Round four: Jaidyn Stephenson (Collingwood Magpies)
Games played: 22
Ave kicks: 8.0
Ave handballs: 4.3
Ave disposals: 12.3
Ave marks: 4
Ave tackles: 3.0
Goals: 34


 

Round five: Ben Long (St Kilda Saints)
Games played: 10
Ave kicks: 5.8
Ave handballs: 6.2
Ave disposals: 12.0
Ave marks: 2.8
Ave tackles: 2.7
Goals: Seven

Round six: Jake Waterman (West Coast Eagles)
Games played: 16
Ave kicks: 7.4
Ave handballs: 3.8
Ave disposals: 11.1
Ave marks: 4.7
Ave tackles: 1.4
Goals: 13

Round seven: Jack Henry (Geelong Cats)
Games played: 21
Ave kicks: 7.3
Ave handballs: 3.3
Ave disposals: 10.6
Ave marks: 4.0
Ave tackles: 3.0
Goals: Eight
 
Round eight: Ben Ronke (Sydney Swans)
Games played: 17
Ave kicks: 8.5
Ave handballs: 4.3
Ave disposals: 12.6
Ave marks: 2.5
Ave tackles: 4.1
Goals: 23


 

Round nine: Alex Witherden (Brisbane Lion)
Games played: 21
Ave kicks: 16.0
Ave handballs: 6.4
Ave disposals: 22.4
Ave marks: 7.2
Ave tackles: 1.6
Goals: One

Round 10: Ed Richards (Western Bulldogs)
Games played: 21
Ave kicks: 7.9
Ave handballs: 5.7
Ave disposals: 13.6
Ave marks: 2.7
Ave tackles: 2.4
Goals: Eight

Round 11: Oliver Florent (Sydney Swans)
Games played: 22
Ave kicks: 9.5
Ave handballs: 7.5
Ave disposals: 17.0
Ave marks: 2.9
Ave tackles: 2.5
Goals: Nine

Round 12: Brennan Cox (Fremantle Dockers)
Games played: 16
Ave kicks: 6.6
Ave handballs: 5.0
Ave disposals: 11.6
Ave marks: 4.4
Ave tackles: 2.4
Goals: 18

Round 13: Hunter Clark (St Kilda Saints)
Games played: 15
Ave kicks: 8.1
Ave handballs: 7.3
Ave disposals: 15.4
Ave marks: 2.9
Ave tackles: 2.8
Goals: Three

Round 14: Paddy Dow (Carlton Blues)
Games played: 20
Ave kicks: 6.8
Ave handballs: 7.4
Ave disposals: 14.2
Ave marks: 2.0
Ave tackles: 3.2
Goals: Seven

Round 15: Cam Rayner (Brisbane Lions)
Games played: 22
Ave kicks: 6.8
Ave handballs: 6.7
Ave disposals: 13.5
Ave marks: 3.5
Ave tackles: 2.4
Goals: 20


 
Round 16: Adam Cerra (Fremantle Dockers)

Games played: 21
Ave kicks: 7.8
Ave handballs: 5.9
Ave disposals: 13.7
Ave marks: 3.3
Ave tackles: 3.4
Goals: Seven

Round 17: Sam Taylor (GWS Giants)
Games played: 8
Ave kicks: 4.0
Ave handballs: 4.9
Ave disposals: 8.9
Ave marks: 2.0
Ave tackles: 3.0
Goals: Zero

Round 18: Jack Higgins (Richmond Tigers)
Games played: 18
Ave kicks: 7.2
Ave handballs: 8.9
Ave disposals: 16.1
Ave marks: 2.8
Ave tackles: 2.4
Goals: 12

Round 19: Tom Cole (West Coast Eagles)
Games played: 19
Ave kicks: 7.1
Ave handballs: 5.9
Ave disposals: 13.0
Ave marks: 3.3
Ave tackles: 2.3
Goals: Zero

Round 20: Harry Morrison (Hawthorn Hawks)
Games played: 19
Ave kicks: 9.1
Ave handballs: 5.6
Ave disposals: 14.7
Ave marks: 4.9
Ave tackles: 2.9
Goals: Five

Round 21: James Worpel (Hawthorn Hawks)
Games played: 9
Ave kicks: 9.0
Ave handballs: 9.6
Ave disposals: 18.6
Ave marks: 2.1
Ave tackles: 3.8
Goals: Four
 
Round 22: Aaron Francis (Essendon Bombers)
Games played: 5
Ave kicks: 10.2
Ave handballs: 3.0
Ave disposals: 13.2
Ave marks: 6.4
Ave tackles: 2.2
Goals: One

Round 23: Aaron Naughton (Western Bulldogs)
Games played: 18
Ave kicks: 7.2
Ave handballs: 4.3
Ave disposals: 11.5
Ave marks: 4.3
Ave tackles: 2.1
Goals: Two

 

Mick Stirling