GOLD Coast Sun Tom Nicholls has been nominated as the Round 16 AFL NAB Rising Star on the back of his performance against Richmond on the weekend. The 21 year old has been ultra impressive since Gold Coast prized young ruckman Zac Smith went down with an ACL injury earlier in the year.
Nicholls collected 18 disposals, 6 marks and 25 hitouts against the much more experienced Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric. His performance was fitting in the AFL multicultural round, as his mother was born in Fiji.
Nicholls has managed to string together a significant amount of games this season, since struggling in his first two. Coach Guy McKenna was full of praise for the young ruckman:
“”Tom has done an outstanding job in the absence of Charlie Dixon and Zac Smith. Despite the pair missing with injury, Tom has well and truly deserved his spot in the senior side and has continued to improve game after game,” McKenna said.
Nicholls is just another talented youngster to add to Gold Coast’s stock and the second weekly Rising Star nominee for the club after Jaeger O’Meara’s Round 5 recognition.
2013 AFL Rising Star Nominees
Week 1: Ollie Wines, Port Adelaide
Week 2: Aaron Mullett, North Melbourne
Week 3: Jed Anderson, Hawthorn
Week 4: George Horlin-Smith, Geelong
Week 5: Jaeger O’Meara, Gold Coast Suns
Week 6: Bradley Hill, Hawthorn
Week 7: Nick Vlastuin, Richmond
Week 8: Jackson Macrae, Western Bulldogs
Week 9: Sam Kerridge, Adelaide
Week 10: Lachie Whitfield, GWS Giants
Week 11: Tom Mitchell, Sydney Swans
Week 12: Sam Mayes, Brisbane Lions
Week 13: Jake Neade, Port Adelaide
Week 14: Brad Crouch, Adelaide
Week 15: Michael Talia, Western Bulldogs
Week 16: Tom Nicholls, Gold Coast Suns