Former Oakleigh Chargers captain Noah Answerth was nominated for the NAB AFL Rising Star award following a stellar performance for the Brisbane Lions in Round 20.

The 182cm 20-year-old recorded 18 disposals at 72 per cent efficiency, six marks and three clearances in the Lions’ 18-point victory over the Western Bulldogs at The Gabba on Sunday.

 

Answerth was selected by Brisbane with pick no.55 at the 2018 NAB AFL Draft as a 19-year-old, having missed all bar two games in his top-age Victorian Under-18 Boys season in 2017 due to a fracture in his back.

He then led the Chargers in 14 matches in 2018 – including their Grand Final defeat at the hands of the Dandenong Stingrays – and was named in the Victorian Under-18 Boys Team of the Year after also representing Vic Metro four times at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

The East Malvern and Caulfield Bears (South Metro Junior FL) product made his AFL debut in Round 6 this season and has played all 14 games for the third-placed Lions since, averaging 12 disposals, four marks and three tackles per game.

Answerth joins Geelong’s Charlie Constable (ex-Sandringham Dragons), Carlton’s Sam Walsh (Geelong Falcons), West Coast’s Jack Petruccelle (Northern Knights), Port Adelaide’s Xavier Duursma (Gippsland Power), Geelong’s Gryan Miers (Geelong Falcons), Western Bulldogs’ Bailey Smith (Sandringham Dragons), Essendon’s Dylan Clarke (Eastern Ranges), North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey (Oakleigh Chargers), Hawthorn’s Mitchell Lewis (Calder Cannons) and Gold Coast’s Ben King (Sandringham Dragons) as former Victorian Under-18 Boys players to be nominated for the AFL Rising Star award in 2019.