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 Telstra since 2024.
Eligibility and voting procedure To be eligible for nomination, a player must be under 21 years of age on 1 January of that year and not have been previously nominated. Players suspended during the season may be nominated, but cannot win. At the end of the season, each member of a voting panel, which also selects the AFL Women's All-Australian team, awards five votes, four votes, three votes, two votes and one vote to the nominated players they judge the best to fifth-best during the season respectively; the player with the highest total of votes wins.
Winners Season Winner Club Recruited 2017 2016 AFL Women's draft, selection 7 2018 2017 AFL Women's draft, selection 3 2019 2018 AFL Women's draft, selection 3 2020 2017 AFL Women's draft, selection 1 2021 2018 AFL Women's draft, selection 6 2022 (S6) 2020 AFL Women's draft, selection 12 2022 (S7) 2022 AFL Women's draft, selection 3 2023 2022 AFL Women's draft, selection 20 2024 2023 under-age signing 2025 2024 AFL Women's draft, selection 5
Nominations
Nominations by club Updated to the end of the 2025 season.
Club Nominations Winners 12 1 12 0 16 2 8 1 5 0 7 0 6 0 7 0 11 1 6 0 10 1 4 0 7 2 2 0 6 0 7 1 10 0 18 1
Most nominations in a season Number Club Season Nominees 5 2018 Libby Birch, Monique Conti, Naomi Ferres, Bonnie Toogood, Aisling Utri 4 2017 Deanna Berry, Jasmine Grierson, Lily Mithen, Katherine Smith 2021 Belle Dawes, Nat Grider, Tahlia Hickie, Courtney Hodder 3 2018 Sarah Allan, Anne Hatchard, Eloise Jones 2020 Grace Egan, Lucy McEvoy, Charlotte Wilson 2020 Caitlin Greiser, Georgia Patrikios, Olivia Vesely 2022 (S6) Dana East, Mikayla Morrison, Sarah Verrier 2022 (S6) Elisabeth Georgostathis, Nell Morris-Dalton, Isabelle Pritchard 2022 (S7) Abbey Dowrick, Hannah Ewings, Indy Tahau 2022 (S7) Montana Ham, Sofia Hurley, Cynthia Hamilton 2023 Charlotte Baskaran, Jasmine Fleming, Lucy Wales 2023 Ella Heads, Sofia Hurley, Ally Morphett 2024 Molly Brooksby, Shineah Goody, Matilda Scholz
Achievements of winners Won a premiership Ebony Marinoff (2017 Rising Star; 2017, 2019 and S6 premierships) Tyla Hanks (2021 Rising Star; S7 premiership)
Won the Rising Star and a premiership in the same season Ebony Marinoff (2017 Rising Star and premiership)
Won the AFL Women's best and fairest Ebony Marinoff (2017 Rising Star; 2024 best and fairest) Maddy Prespakis (2019 Rising Star; 2020 best and fairest)
See also
AFL Rising Star
References
External links AFLW Awards