182 players are in the running for the 2022 AFL Rising Star Award, with plenty of emerging names from recent draft classes having already staked their claim for the honour in the opening round.

Each round, a panel consisting of Kevin Sheehan (Chairperson), Nathan Buckley, Jude Bolton, Kane Cornes, Abbey Holmes and Chris Johnson will nominate an eligible young star for the award, leading to a tally of 23 nominees come season's end.

At the conclusion of the home and away season, the selectors - including the All-Australian selection panel - will vote for their top five performing Rising Star contenders for the season.

The player who polls the most votes will receive the Ron Evans Medal, a $20,000 personal investment portfolio and a dedicated private banker courtesy of NAB.

The selection criteria for a Rising Star nomination is as follows:

  • To be eligible for the award:
    โ†’ a Player must be under 21 years of age (1st January 2022) and played 10 or fewer games before the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiershipย Season.
  • In general, a player judged to have played the best individual game of the round to be the basis of the weekly nomination.
  • When several players are judged to have played at a reasonably similar level, previous rounds/year to date performances are then taken into account.
  • The priority is to have the best performed 23 players nominated by the end of the season for consideration for the overall award. Therefore, in later rounds, year-to-date performances will be allocated increasing weight relative to performances in the round.

Hawthorn lead the way with 15 players eligible for the Rising Star, while Essendon (13) Geelong (12) and Collingwood (12) narrowly trail.

EVERY AFL PLAYER ELIGIBLE FOR THE 2022 RISING STAR AWARD:

Adelaide

James Borlase
Brayden Cook
Lachlan Gollant
Fischer McAsey
Tariek Newchurch
Patrick Parnell
Luke Pedlar
Josh Rachele
Jake Soligo
Zac Taylor
Joshย  Worrell

Brisbane

Blake Coleman
Kalin Lane
Kai Lohmann
Carter Michael
Harry Sharp
Henry Smith
James Tunstill
Darcy Wilmot

Carlton

Domanic Akuei
Jack Carroll
Corey Durdin
Josh Honey
Brodie Kemp
Jesse Motlop
Luke Parks
Sam Philp

Collingwood

Aiden Begg
Isaac Chugg
Nick Daicos
Charlie Dean
Arlo Draper
Jack Ginnivan
Harvey Harrison
Ollie Henry
Finlay Macrae
Reef McInnes
Liam McMahon
Cooper Murley

Essendon

Kaine Baldwin
Cody Brand
Nick Bryan
Sam Durham
Josh Eyre
Tom Hird
Ben Hobbs
Alastair Lord
Nic Martin
Cian McBride
Zach Reid
Patrick Voss
Tex Wanganeen

Fremantle

Jye Amiss
Eric Benning
Heath Chapman
Neil Erasmus
Matt Johnson
Nathan O'Driscoll
Brandon Walker
Joel Western
Karl Worner

Geelong

Toby Conway
Sam De Koning
Ollie Dempsey
Francis Evans
Mitch Knevitt
Flynn Kroeger
Shannon Neale
Cooper Stephens
Nick Stevens
Paul Tsapatolis
Cooper Whyte
James Willis

Gold Coast

Mac Andrew
Sandy Brock
Alex Davies
Elijah Hollands
Joel Jeffrey
Ned Moyle
Rhys Nicholls
Hewago Paul Oea
Malcolm Rosas
Bodhi Uwland

Greater Western Sydney

Leek Aleer
Ryan Angwin
Finn Callaghan
Josh Fahey
Cam Fleeton
Cooper Hamilton
Will Shaw
Conor Stone

Hawthorn

Sam Butler
Jackson Callow
Connor Downie
Denver Grainger-Barras
Emerson Jeka
Ned Long
Connor Macdonald
Finn Maginness
Seamus Mitchell
Josh Morris
Jai Newcombe
Fionn O'Hara
Jack Saunders
Jai Serong
Josh Ward

Melbourne

Jake Bowey
Blake Howes
Bailey Laurie
Judd McVee
Andy Moniz-Wakefield
Fraser Rosman
Deakyn Smith
Daniel Turner
Jacob van Rooyen
Taj Woewodin

North Melbourne

Jackson Archer
Miller Bergman
Charlie Comben
Paul Curtis
Jacob Edwards
Eddie Ford
Josh Goater
Jason Horne-Francis
Flynn Perez
Phoenix Spicer
Patrick Walker

Port Adelaide

Jase Burgoyne
Hugh Jackson
Lachie Jones
Ollie Lord
Jed McEntee
Jackson Mead
Jake Pasini
Taj Schofield
Josh Sinn
Dante Visentini
Dylan Williams

Richmond

Sam Banks
Tom Brown
Judson Clarke
Noah Cumberland
Thomson Dow
Josh Gibcus
Will Martyn
Bigoa Nyuon
Hugo Ralphsmith
Maurice Rioli junior
Tyler Sonsie

St Kilda

Oscar Adams
Matt Allison
Leo Connolly
Max Heath
Josiah Kyle
Mitch Owens
Jack Peris
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
Marcus Windhager

Sydney

Braeden Campbell
Will Gould
Logan McDonald
Lachie Rankin
Matt Roberts
Marc Sheather
Angus Sheldrick
Corey Warner

West Coastย 

Rhett Bazzo
Campbell Chesser
Luke Edwards
Brady Hough
Zane Trew
Jack Williams
Isiah Winder

Western Bulldogs

Dominic Bedendo
Louis Butler
Luke Cleary
Sam Darcy
Riley Garcia
Arthur Jones
Cody Raak
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan