The award was sponsored by Norwich Union Australia from its inception in 1993 until 2000.[2] The AFL then secured a six-year sponsorship deal with Ansett Australia in 2001 that included the Rising Star award;[2] however, this agreement only lasted the one season following the collapse of Ansett in September 2001.[3]National Australia Bank sponsored the award for two decades from 2002 to 2022, marking the longest commercial partnership in the award's history;[4][5] they were not replaced by any sponsor for the 2023 edition.[6] An equivalent award has existed in the AFL Women's league since its inception in 2017.[7]
A player is nominated for the award each round during the AFL season by a panel of experts.[10] The nominee is usually chosen based on their performance in that particular round; however, for nominations closer to the end of the year, the player's performance over the whole season is taken into consideration.[11] To be eligible for nomination, the player must be under the age of 21 at 1 January that year, and have played ten or fewer AFL games as of the start of the season.[10] A player can only be nominated once per season; if a player is suspended during the season, he may be nominated, but will not be eligible to win the award.[nb 1][13] At the completion of the regular season, each member of the voting panel independently awards five votes, four votes, three votes, two votes and one vote to the nominated players they regard as the best to fifth-best during the season; the player with the highest total of votes wins the medal.[14]
As the number of voting members varies between seasons, the maximum number of votes a player can poll is not consistent. There have been only four winners who have accumulated the maximum votes in their season: Jared Rivers (2004), Daniel Rich (2009), Dan Hannebery (2010) and Nick Daicos (2022).[15][16]
It is possible for a player to be nominated in multiple seasons, as long as he still satisfies the age and experience criteria in each year. Sixteen players have been nominated twice for a Rising Star award:[17]
^Under the 2005–2014 match review panel system, a player was ineligible if he was given a base sanction of 100 or more demerit points by the tribunal or match review panel, equivalent to a one-week suspension. Under some circumstances, a player could reduce a penalty from a one-week suspension (125 demerit points) to a reprimand without suspension (92.75 points) by accepting a 25 per cent reduction with an early guilty plea; as the base points sanction in this case exceeds 100, he would become ineligible for the award, despite not being suspended. This was the same eligibility criterion used in the Brownlow Medal. Since 2015, if a player is suspended for more than one match after an early plea or tribunal case, then he is ineligible to win the award.[12]
^Voting was not made public for awards prior to 1996.[15]
^ abcHolmesby, Luke (2 September 2009). "Rich wins rising star". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
^ abBowen, Nick (4 September 2013). "O'Meara named Rising Star". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
^Holmesby, Luke; Twomey, Callum (5 September 2012). "Talia claims Rising Star". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
