Jamie Charman of the Brisbane Lions is the Round 21 National AFL Rising Star nominee.
He is a second-year AFL player who has stepped from relative obscurity last year to grab a place in the outstanding Brisbane Lions' side heading for the finals this year
It has been a fairytale rise for a young boy who dreamed of playing AFL football in Queensland from the moment he played in a 'little league' match at Carrara at halftime in an AFL game between the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide.
In '99 Charman was a member of the Northern Raiders side, coached by former Lions player turned assistant-coach Scott McIvor, that won the AFLQ U18s premiership, and made his AFLQ debut with the Northern Eagles as a 16-year-old under then coach Craig Brittain.
In 2000 while studying primary teaching in Cairns, playing with Cairns Saints and representing North Queensland, Charman commuted to Brisbane to fulfil training obligations with the Queensland U18 side prior to the national championships in Melbourne. There, he was runner-up in the Maroons B&F award to Michael Davis, later drafted by Essendon and now on the Rookie List at Carlton. Also, Charman won All-Australian selection with Davis and fellow Queensland U18s teammate Nick Riewoldt.
Returning to Brisbane after the national carnival, he played the last five games of the season with the Eagles in the AFLQ competition, including the grand final.
Charman joined the Lions as a 'developing markets' selection in the 2000 AFL National Draft. In fact, he was the player the Lions took when a change in the rules at the time put Riewoldt off limits because he lived more than 50km from Brisbane.
An ever-outgoing type, Charman made his AFL debut as a replacement for the injured Clark Keating in Round 5 against Fremantle at the Gabba last year. He also replaced the injured Beau McDonald to play in Round 10 against Essendon at the Gabba, which was the start of the club's 16-game winning streak that culminated in the 2001 premiership.
He was a key figure of the Lions Reserves side that won the AFLQ premiership, but, after an outstanding finals series, was ko'd 12 minutes into the grand final and spent the remainder of the day in hospital, returning just in time to receive his premiership medal in 'civvies'.
He has made massive strides this year, effectively displacing Keating, No.1 ruckman in the premiership side last year, to join McDonald in the two-pronged Lions following division.
He has played 18 of a possible 21 games, missing Round 1, when he was an emergency selection behind a ruck combination of McDonald and Dylan McLaren, in Round 6, when McDonald and Keating were paired in the ruck for the first time this year, and in Round 15, when he was injured.
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The AFL Rising Star was instituted in 1993 to recognise the best new young talent entering the AFL competition and past winners include two current club captains in Nathan Buckley (1993) and Ben Cousins (1996).
The award is the premier recognition for young players in the game and, to be eligible, contenders must be under the age of 21 as at December 31, 2001, and played less than 10 senior games at the start of this season.
As with the Brownlow Medal, players found guilty of certain offences who are fined or reprimanded by the tribunal remain eligible to win the Rising Star but a player may not be suspended by the AFL or respective State League Tribunals.
The AFL Rising Star Award for 2002 will be voted on by the All Australian selection panel comprising Kevin Bartlett, Rod Austin, Gerard Healy, Neil Kerley, Robert Walls, Chris Mainwaring, Andrew Demetriou and Wayne Jackson (non-voting Chairman).
