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. The 1996 medal was won by West Coast Eagles player Ben Cousins

Ben Cousins

Benjamin Luke "Ben" Cousins is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his 270-game career with and 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	Matthew Primus Matthew Primus Matthew Richard Primus is the current coach of the Port Adelaide Football Club and a former Australian rules footballer, captain and All Australian ruckman.-Early career :...	Fitzroy Lions Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
2	Daniel Bandy Daniel Bandy Daniel Bandy is a former Australian rules footballer. He played as a ruckman for Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League . He last played for West Australian Football League club Claremont in 2007....	Fremantle Dockers Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
3	Luke Darcy Luke Darcy Luke Darcy is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Western Bulldogs who now juggles roles in media and administration.-Early life:...	Footscray Bulldogs
4	Greg Harding Greg Harding Greg Harding is an Australian rules footballer. He played for both the Fremantle Football Club and the West Coast Eagles. He was drafted by Fremantle from Claremont in the WAFL as a zone selection in the 1995 AFL Draft and played mainly as a defender.He made his AFL debut in the opening round...	Fremantle Dockers Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
5	Adam Simpson Adam Simpson Adam Simpson is a retired Australian rules footballer who is a former captain of North Melbourne.-Early life:Simpson grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, where he played junior football with the Eltham Football Club and the Northern Knights-Early career:Debuting in 1995, he has won two...	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...
6	Shannon Grant Shannon Grant Shannon Grant is a retired Australian rules footballer who was known as one of the premier midfielders in the AFL. He began his career at the Sydney Swans in 1995 before moving to the Kangaroos in 1998 and being a part of their 1999 premiership side, in which he also won the Norm Smith Medal for...	Sydney Swans
7	Andrew Schauble Andrew Schauble Andrew Schauble is a former Australian rules football player.For over a decade, he was a consistent player in defence for both the Collingwood Football Club and the Sydney Swans. After being struck down by injury in 2004 and struggling to recapture his solid form, he was restricted to only 4 games...	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...
8	Nick Carter Nick Carter (footballer) Nick Carter is a former Australian rules football player. During his career, Carter played for Fitzroy, Brisbane and Melbourne in the Australian Football League .-Early life:...	Fitzroy Lions Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
9	Jarrad Schofield Jarrad Schofield Jarrad Schofield was an premiership winning player who played for the West Coast Eagles, Port Adelaide and Fremantle.-West Coast career :...	West Coast Eagles
10	Daniel Chick Daniel Chick Daniel Chick is a professional Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. Chick is also well known for having a finger amputated in 2002 so he could continue playing football.- Hawthorn career :Chick made his debut for Hawthorn...	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...
11	Adem Yze Adem Yze Adem Yze is an Australian rules footballer of Albanian descent. He was educated at Galvin Park Secondary College in Werribee, Victoria...	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....
12	Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Benjamin Luke "Ben" Cousins is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his 270-game career with and in the Australian Football League ....	West Coast Eagles
13	Craig Biddiscombe	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...
14	Kingsley Hunter Kingsley Hunter Kingsley Hunter is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League between 1995 and 2003....	Fremantle Dockers Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
15	Steven King Steven King (footballer) Steven King is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and St Kilda in the Australian Football League .- 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...
16	Chad Morrison Chad Morrison Chad Morrison is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.Drafted to the West Coast Eagles as a compensatory pick in the 1995 Pre-Season Draft, Morrison made his debut as an eighteen year old in Round 1 against Fremantle in 1996, after staying in Melbourne to finish year 12...	West Coast Eagles
17	Peter Bell Peter F. Bell Peter Francis Bell is a former Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club and the North Melbourne Football Club. He played as a rover . A former captain of the Fremantle Football Club, Bell was twice named as a member of the All-Australian Team...	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...
18	Daniel McPherson Daniel McPherson Daniel McPherson is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Football Club in the Australian Football League. Originally from Ganmain, a small town in New South Wales, McPherson played for the Swans between 1994 and 2003.-External links:*...	Sydney Swans
19	Matthew Lloyd Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and was the captain 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...
20	Luke Toia Luke Toia Luke Toia was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Dockers between 1996 and 2003. He was drafted from Subiaco in the WAFL as a predraft selection in the 1994 AFL Draft and played mainly as a rover. He last played for Claremont in the WAFL.-External links:...	Fremantle Dockers Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
21	Jeff Farmer Jeff Farmer (footballer) Jeff Farmer is a former Australian rules footballer of Aboriginal descent. He was the first indigenous player to kick 400 goals in the Australian Football League .-Melbourne career:...	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....
22	Craig Callaghan Craig Callaghan Craig William Callaghan is an Australian rules footballer who played for Fremantle and St Kilda in the Australian Football League...	Fremantle Dockers Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...