BETTING on the NAB AFL Rising Star award will close the night before this year's announcement as part of the League's crackdown on confidentiality surrounding the winner.
The AFL has also confirmed judges' vote cards will not be opened until after gambling agencies suspend their markets for the prestigious award on Tuesday night.
The tightening of the process before the Rising Star is unveiled comes in the wake of an investigation into "suspicious betting activity" by former North Melbourne player and Fox Footy commentator David King two days before last year's award.
King placed two bets totalling $850 on winner Lewis Taylor from the Brisbane Lions – who pipped Western Bulldogs jet Marcus Bontempelli by a single vote in the closest count in the award's 22-year history.
A probe was launched into the bets and found King had no case to answer.
This year's Rising Star race is tipped to be a thriller, with Carlton's midfield bull Patrick Cripps the favourite to claim the Ron Evans Medal ahead of Melbourne's gun key forward Jesse Hogan.
Cripps is paying $1.50 with the AFL's official wagering partner CrownBet, narrowly ahead of Hogan at $2.50.
West Coast midfielder Dom Sheed is on the third line of betting at $17, ahead of Gold Coast running defender Adam Saad ($26), Hawthorn's Billy Hartung and Suns onballer Touk Miller ($41).
The winner will be announced at a gala function at Palladium at Crown in Melbourne on Wednesday, September 9.
