Former Dandenong Southern Stingray Lachie Whitfield from the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS is the Round 10 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee.
The 18-year-old, selected by the GIANTS with pick number one in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft, collected 21 disposals - including seven marks and a goal - in the Giants’ loss to Carlton at Etihad Stadium last Saturday.
After debuting for the GIANTS in Round One this year, Whitfield has gone on to play in all but one of the GIANTS 10 matches so far this season.
GIANTS coach Kevin Sheedy said Whitfield’s nomination was a fitting reward for a very consistent debut season in the AFL.
“Lachie has showed his skill and class and demonstrated why we selected him with our first pick last year. It’s not easy coming straight into the AFL in your first year as an 18 year-old but he has shown he is comfortable at this level and already taking great strides as an AFL player,” Sheedy said.
Whitfield, an AIS-AFL Academy graduate, was recruited from the Dandenong Stingrays as the number one pick at last year’s NAB AFL Draft. He was originally from Mornington in Victoria.
His selection followed consecutive standout performances at the 2011 and 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships – in 2011 he was named All-Australian and received the AFL Life Members Scholarship, while in 2012 he won the Larke Medal as the best player at the Championships, as well as All-Australian honours.
He is averaging over 15 disposals a match in his debut AFL season, his Round 10 performance was his third 20+ possession game so far this year.
Following each round of the home and away season, a panel of judges will select a NAB AFL Rising Star nominee. At the completion of the season, one of these nominees will be chosen as the 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star.
Last Modified on 05/06/2013 23:06