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 1997 medal was won by Port Adelaide Power player Michael Wilson

Michael Wilson (footballer)

Michael Robert Wilson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide Football Club.-Success :...

.

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	Lance Whitnall Lance Whitnall Lance Whitnall is a former Australian rules footballer, and the ex-captain of the Carlton Football Club.-Early career :...	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...
2	Joel Bowden Joel Bowden Joel Bowden was an Australian rules footballer with the Richmond Football Club in the AFL. In 2007, he was declared the new president of the AFL Players Association....	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,...
3	Bowen Lockwood Bowen Lockwood Bowen Lockwood is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.Originally from Mount Eliza, Lockwood attended Geelong College and was recruited from Geelong U18 in the 1996 AFL Draft at pick number 7....	Port Adelaide Power
4	Michael Wilson Michael Wilson (footballer) Michael Robert Wilson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide Football Club.-Success :...	Port Adelaide Power
5	Heath Black Heath Black Heath Black is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League .The 177 cm wingman is noted for his speed and long left foot kicking. Beginning his career in 1997 he was seen as a bright prospect and several years down the track that has been proven correct...	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...
6	Adam Houlihan Adam Houlihan Adam L. Houlihan is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League...	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...
7	Brendon Lade Brendon Lade Brendon Lade is a former Australian rules footballer who spent his entire AFL career with the Port Adelaide Football Club.- Early Career :...	Port Adelaide Power
8	Daniel Bradshaw Daniel Bradshaw Daniel Mark Bradshaw is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League....	Brisbane Lions
9	Stefan Carey Stefan Carey Stefan Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions in the AFL. His father George played 5 games with Fitzroy in 1966.-External links:*...	Sydney Swans
10	Shane Woewodin Shane Woewodin Shane Woewodin was an Australian rules football player who played 200 games with the Melbourne and Collingwood Football Clubs. He was the recipient of the Brownlow Medal in 2000.-Early 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....
11	Troy Cook Troy Cook Troy Cook is an Australian rules footballer. Cook plays for the Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League.-Early career:...	Sydney Swans
12	Kane Johnson Kane Johnson Kane "Johno" Johnson is a former Australian rules footballer and former captain of the Richmond Football Club and dual premiership winner with the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League .-Career:...	Adelaide Crows
13	Blake Caracella Blake Caracella Blake Caracella is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League .-Essendon career:Selected by Essendon in the 1995 National Draft at pick 10, Caracella finally debuted with the Bombers in 1997...	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...
14	Michael Braun	West Coast Eagles
15	Peter Vardy Peter Vardy (footballer) Peter Vardy is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Adelaide and Melbourne in the AFL.A small forward, Vardy started his career at Adelaide where he was an AFL Rising Star nominee in 1997...	Adelaide Crows
16	Carl Steinfort Carl Steinfort Carl Steinfort is an Australian rules footballer who played for both the Geelong and Collingwood football clubs in the Australian Football League .-Geelong career:...	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...
17	Brad Scott	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...
18	Mal Michael Mal Michael Malcolm Roberto "Mal" Michael is a former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional Australian Football League career. Following a career spanned 238 games and three clubs in two Australian states he is best known as a triple premiership full-back with the...	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...
19	Michael Gardiner Michael Gardiner Michael S. Gardiner is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for the West Coast Eagles from 1997–2006 and the St Kilda Football Club from 2007–2011.- Early life :...	West Coast Eagles
20	Robert Powell Robert Powell (footballer) Robert Powell is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond Football Club and St Kilda 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,...
21	Nathan Eagleton Nathan Eagleton Nathan Eagleton is an Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League .Eagleton played junior level football for West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League . He was recruited as a zone selection by the Port Adelaide Football Club for its inaugural AFL...	Port Adelaide Power
22	Angelo Lekkas Angelo Lekkas Angelos Lekkas is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire professional career with 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...