Rhys Palmer Wins NAB Rising Star Award
September 3, 2008 by News
Fremantle midfielder Rhys Palmer has been named the 2008 NAB Rising Star at a ceremony in Melbourne today………..
FREMANTLE young gun Rhys Palmer has been named the 2008 AFL Rising Star. He beat out Hawthorn’s Cyril Rioli for the Ron Evans Medal which recognises the AFL’s best young player.
The young Docker topped the poll with 44 votes, one off the maximum, ahead of Rioli on 37. Richmond’s Trent Cotchin was third with 21 votes.
Eight of the nine Rising Star judges gave Palmer the maximum five votes and Rioli four. The only judge to disagree with the order of the top two was AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson who gave Rioli five votes and Palmer four.
This result comes as no suprise as Palmer was clearly the most outstanding youngester of the year. He stood out in an ordinary performing team compared to Cyril Rioli who was able to step into a successful side and play his part.
Do you agree with the result? Leave us with your thoughts.
Yeah I do agree with that. He has imo become the most important player of the club by stepping up and forcing Bell, McManus etc in retirement and became their prime mover.
One question I have - why does Adrian Anderson get a vote of all people? Geez
As for Palmer - interesting whether he will continue to improve his disposal, or find himself overtaken by some of the ‘better prospects’ from his draft such as Cotchin, Masten etc.
I totally agree with the decision. However, i note that there is a lot of support for Cotchin as the “best” player to come out of this draft - why not Palmer? He’s a ball magnet. Gets it 25 times a game. Might butcher it a tad. Fair call. But he’s only 19 - give him 3 years and his skills will improve out of sight. He’s now a full-time footballer. All he does is lift weights, run beaches and kick the pill.