Former Dandenong Stingrays key-position player Josh Battle was nominated for the NAB AFL Rising Star award following his performance in St Kilda’s Round 22 defeat.

The 193cm 20-year-old recorded 16 disposals, four marks, three rebound-50s and 11 one-percenters in the Saints’ 10-point loss to Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.

 

Battle was selected by St Kilda with pick no.39 at the 2016 NAB AFL Draft after kicking 40 goals in 19 games for the Stingrays in 2015-16. He was named in the 2016 Victorian Under-18 Boys Team of the Year and represented Vic Country in that year’s NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, when he finished as the team’s leading goalkicker.

The Narre South Lions (South East Juniors) product made his AFL debut in Round 17 in his 2017 rookie season before playing six further games in 2018. He has taken on a role in defence in 2019, when he has appeared in 18 matches and averaged 15 disposals, six marks and three rebound-50s per game.

Battle 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), Gold Coast’s Ben King (Sandringham Dragons) and Brisbane’s Noah Answerth (Oakleigh Chargers) as former Victorian Under-18 Boys players to be nominated for the AFL Rising Star award in 2019.