Jai Culley, the number one pick in the 2022 NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, has been named the Round Six Rising Star nominee after an impressive performance for the West Coast Eagles. Despite their 40-point loss to Port Adelaide, Culley shone bright, kicking four goals and taking three marks (one contested) with 10 disposals (six contested) at 80% efficiency, while also contributing seven score involvements.
Initially recruited as a big-bodied midfielder from the Dandenong Stingrays, the 194cm tall Culley was recently moved to the forward line by Senior coach Adam Simpson. This decision has clearly paid off, as the young gun has made a significant impact in the Eagles’ past few matches.
Prior to being selected by the West Coast Eagles in June, the left-footer was working at a chicken shop in the evenings and a supermarket in the mornings. However, his hard work and dedication to the sport has paid off, as he made his debut in Round 18 of 2022 and has since played in seven matches.
Culley’s junior football career began at the Langwarrin Kangaroos in the AFL South East competition, before being drafted into the AFL. At just 20 years of age, Culley is the second West Coast Eagles player to receive a Rising Star nomination this year, joining teammate Ruben Ginbey, who was nominated in Round Three.
The 2023 AFL Rising Star nominees include Harry Sheezel (North Melbourne) in Round One, Will Ashcroft (Brisbane Lions) in Round Two, Reuben Ginbey (West Coast Eagles) in Round Three, Mitchito Owens (St Kilda) in Round Four, Max Michalanney (Adelaide Crows) in Round Five, and Jai Culley (West Coast Eagles) in Round Six. With such a promising start to his career, Culley is sure to make many more appearances on this list in the future.
2023 AFL Rising Star nominees
Round One – Harry Sheezel (North Melbourne)
Round Two – Will Ashcroft (Brisbane Lions)
Round Three – Reuben Ginbey (West Coast Eagles)
Round Four – Mitchito Owens (St Kilda)
Round Five – Max Michalanney (Adelaide Crows)
Round Six – Jai Culley (West Coast Eagles)
List of AFL Players Eligible for the 2023 AFL Rising Star Award
| Team | Surname | First Name | DOB | Rookie | Matches |
| Adelaide Crows | Bond | Hugh | 25-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Adelaide Crows | Borlase | James | 18-Jul-02 | R | 0 |
| Adelaide Crows | Dowling | Billy | 01-Jul-04 | 0 | |
| Adelaide Crows | Michalanney | Max | 26-Feb-04 | 0 | |
| Adelaide Crows | Nankervis | Luke | 25-May-03 | 0 | |
| Adelaide Crows | Newchurch | Tariek | 21-Jul-02 | R | 0 |
| Adelaide Crows | Pedlar | Luke | 17-May-02 | 5 | |
| Adelaide Crows | Taylor | Zac | 31-Jan-03 | 0 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Ashcroft | Will | 06-May-04 | 0 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Brain | Shadeau | 13-Feb-04 | R | 0 |
| Brisbane Lions | Coleman | Blake | 06-Aug-02 | 0 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Fletcher | Jaspa | 24-Feb-04 | 0 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Lohmann | Kai | 06-May-03 | 2 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Michael | Carter | 22-May-02 | R | 1 |
| Brisbane Lions | Sharp | Harry | 17-Dec-02 | 7 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Smith | Henry | 24-Sep-02 | 0 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Tunstill | James | 18-Jul-03 | 3 | |
| Brisbane Lions | Wilmot | Darcy | 31-Dec-03 | 3 | |
| Carlton | Akuei | Domanic | 12-May-02 | R | 0 |
| Carlton | Binns | Jaxon | 29-Oct-04 | 0 | |
| Carlton | Carroll | Jack | 20-Dec-02 | 5 | |
| Carlton | Cowan | Lachlan | 01-Dec-04 | 0 | |
| Carlton | Hollands | Oliver | 16-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| Carlton | Lemmey | Harry | 30-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| Carlton | O’Keeffe | Hudson | 16-Dec-04 | R | 0 |
| Collingwood | Allan | Edward | 26-May-04 | 0 | |
| Collingwood | Begg | Aiden | 08-Oct-02 | R | 3 |
| Collingwood | Draper | Arlo | 30-Jan-03 | 0 | |
| Collingwood | Harrison | Harvey | 10-Nov-03 | 0 | |
| Collingwood | McInnes | Reef | 12-Dec-02 | 6 | |
| Collingwood | Murley | Cooper | 20-Jun-03 | R | 0 |
| Collingwood | Ryan | Jakob | 20-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Collingwood | Steene | Oscar | 23-Aug-03 | R | 0 |
| Essendon | Baldwin | Kaine | 30-May-02 | R | 4 |
| Essendon | D’Ambrosio | Massimo | 05-Jun-03 | R | 8 |
| Essendon | Davey | Jayden | 26-Feb-04 | 0 | |
| Essendon | Davey Jnr | Alwyn | 26-Feb-04 | 0 | |
| Essendon | Hayes | Lewis | 17-Dec-04 | 0 | |
| Essendon | Lord | Alastair | 26-Nov-03 | 1 | |
| Essendon | Menzie | Jye | 28-Oct-02 | R | 2 |
| Essendon | Munkara | Anthony | 03-Oct-04 | R | 0 |
| Essendon | Reid | Zach | 02-Mar-02 | 8 | |
| Essendon | Tsatas | Elijah | 18-Oct-04 | 0 | |
| Essendon | Voss | Patrick | 29-Jun-03 | R | 0 |
| Essendon | Wanganeen | Tex | 10-Oct-03 | R | 5 |
| Fremantle | Amiss | Jye | 31-Jul-03 | 3 | |
| Fremantle | Benning | Eric | 14-Jun-03 | 0 | |
| Fremantle | Davies | Hugh | 28-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Fremantle | Draper | Joshua | 08-Feb-04 | R | 0 |
| Fremantle | Erasmus | Neil | 02-Dec-03 | 5 | |
| Fremantle | Johnson | Matthew | 16-Mar-03 | 0 | |
| Fremantle | Knobel | Max | 27-Jun-04 | 0 | |
| Fremantle | Williams | Conrad | 30-Nov-04 | R | 0 |
| Fremantle | Worner | Karl | 16-Jun-02 | R | 0 |
| Geelong Cats | Clark | Jhye | 23-Jul-04 | 0 | |
| Geelong Cats | Clohesy | Ted | 06-Sep-04 | R | 0 |
| Geelong Cats | Conway | Toby | 24-Apr-03 | 0 | |
| Geelong Cats | Dempsey | Oliver | 07-Jan-03 | R | 2 |
| Geelong Cats | Foster | Phoenix | 12-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Geelong Cats | Knevitt | Mitch | 08-Jan-03 | 2 | |
| Geelong Cats | Kroeger | Flynn | 23-Jul-03 | 0 | |
| Geelong Cats | Murdoch | Oscar | 24-Sep-04 | R | 0 |
| Geelong Cats | Neale | Shannon | 25-Jul-02 | 2 | |
| Geelong Cats | Riccardi | Osca | 23-Aug-04 | R | 0 |
| Geelong Cats | Whyte | Cooper | 24-Feb-03 | 0 | |
| Geelong Cats | Willis | James | 10-Jul-03 | 0 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Andrew | Mac | 04-Dec-03 | 4 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Brock | Sandy | 14-Dec-02 | R | 0 |
| Gold Coast Suns | Faulkhead | Oskar | 11-Feb-03 | R | 0 |
| Gold Coast Suns | Hollands | Elijah | 25-Apr-02 | 5 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Humphrey | Bailey | 11-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Jeffrey | Joel | 12-Mar-02 | 9 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Johnston | Lloyd | 21-Sep-04 | R | 0 |
| Gold Coast Suns | Moyle | Ned | 15-Feb-02 | 0 | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Uwland | Bodhi | 25-Jul-03 | R | 0 |
| GWS Giants | Angwin | Ryan | 12-Dec-02 | 1 | |
| GWS Giants | Cadman | Aaron | 03-Mar-04 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Callaghan | Finn | 26-Apr-03 | 5 | |
| GWS Giants | Fahey | Josh | 11-Nov-03 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Fleeton | Cameron | 17-Jun-02 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Gillbee | Jason | 15-May-04 | R | 0 |
| GWS Giants | Gruzewski | Max | 21-Jul-04 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Hamilton | Cooper | 24-Sep-03 | R | 4 |
| GWS Giants | Jones | Darcy | 03-Apr-04 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Madden | Nicholas | 17-May-04 | R | 0 |
| GWS Giants | McMullin | Toby | 06-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Rowston | Harry | 12-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| GWS Giants | Stone | Conor | 22-Apr-02 | 6 | |
| Hawthorn | Bennetts | Joshua | 09-Aug-04 | R | 0 |
| Hawthorn | Butler | Sam | 10-Feb-03 | 9 | |
| Hawthorn | Hustwaite | Henry | 20-Jul-04 | 0 | |
| Hawthorn | Long | Ned | 05-Feb-03 | R | 1 |
| Hawthorn | Macdonald | Bailey | 04-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| Hawthorn | Mackenzie | Cam | 21-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| Hawthorn | Mitchell | Seamus | 03-Jul-02 | R | 0 |
| Hawthorn | O’Hara | Fionn | 28-Feb-02 | R | 0 |
| Hawthorn | O’Sullivan | Jack | 22-Oct-04 | 0 | |
| Hawthorn | Ramsden | Max | 19-Apr-03 | R | 0 |
| Hawthorn | Serong | Jai | 16-Feb-03 | 3 | |
| Hawthorn | Weddle | Josh | 25-May-04 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | Adams | Jed | 14-May-04 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | Farris-White | Kyah | 02-Jan-04 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Howes | Blake | 07-Apr-03 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | Jefferson | Matthew | 08-Mar-04 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | Laurie | Bailey | 24-Mar-02 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | McVee | Judd | 07-Aug-03 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Moniz-Wakefield | Andy | 26-Oct-03 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Sestan | Oliver | 15-Apr-04 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Smith | Deakyn | 22-Aug-02 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Turner | Daniel | 28-Jan-02 | R | 1 |
| Melbourne | Turner | Kye | 06-Feb-02 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | van Rooyen | Jacob | 16-Apr-03 | 0 | |
| Melbourne | Verrall | Will | 11-Mar-04 | R | 0 |
| Melbourne | Woewodin | Taj | 26-Mar-03 | 0 | |
| North Melbourne | Archer | Jackson | 09-Jan-03 | 3 | |
| North Melbourne | Bergman | Miller | 25-Jan-03 | 1 | |
| North Melbourne | Drury | Blake | 11-Jan-04 | R | 0 |
| North Melbourne | Edwards | Jacob | 22-Nov-02 | R | 0 |
| North Melbourne | Ford | Eddie | 21-Jun-02 | 8 | |
| North Melbourne | George | Brayden | 13-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| North Melbourne | Goater | Josh | 02-Jun-03 | 1 | |
| North Melbourne | Harvey | Cooper | 12-Jul-04 | 0 | |
| North Melbourne | Sheezel | Harry | 13-Oct-04 | 0 | |
| North Melbourne | Spicer | Phoenix | 30-Jan-02 | 6 | |
| North Melbourne | Wardlaw | George | 11-Jun-04 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | Barkla | Nathan | 30-Mar-04 | R | 0 |
| Port Adelaide | Burgoyne | Jase | 15-Jul-03 | 8 | |
| Port Adelaide | Jackson | Hugh | 03-May-03 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | Lord | Ollie | 02-Jan-02 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | Marshall | Kyle | 10-Apr-04 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | McCallum | Tom | 15-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | Scully | Thomas | 02-Nov-04 | 0 | |
| Port Adelaide | Sinn | Josh | 07-Jan-03 | 1 | |
| Port Adelaide | Visentini | Dante | 13-Feb-03 | 0 | |
| Richmond | Banks | Sam | 02-Apr-03 | 0 | |
| Richmond | Bauer | Jacob | 04-Jun-02 | R | 0 |
| Richmond | Brown | Tom | 30-Jul-03 | 0 | |
| Richmond | Campbell | Seth | 29-Dec-04 | R | 0 |
| Richmond | Clarke | Judson | 17-Oct-03 | 3 | |
| Richmond | Green | Steely | 09-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| Richmond | Smith | Kaleb | 20-Nov-04 | 0 | |
| Richmond | Sonsie | Tyler | 27-Jan-03 | 7 | |
| St Kilda | Adams | Oscar | 23-Jul-03 | 0 | |
| St Kilda | Allison | Matthew | 29-Jan-02 | 0 | |
| St Kilda | Caminiti | Anthony | 09-Dec-03 | R | 0 |
| St Kilda | Heath | Max | 24-Oct-02 | R | 0 |
| St Kilda | Hotton | Olli | 06-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| St Kilda | Keeler | Isaac | 23-Apr-04 | 0 | |
| St Kilda | McLennan | Angus | 02-Sep-03 | R | 0 |
| St Kilda | Owens | Mitch | 24-Sep-03 | 7 | |
| St Kilda | Peris | Jack | 17-Dec-03 | R | 0 |
| St Kilda | Phillipou | Mattaes | 27-Dec-04 | 0 | |
| St Kilda | Van Es | James | 07-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| Sydney Swans | Edwards | William | 08-May-03 | R | 0 |
| Sydney Swans | Hall-Kahan | Hugo | 22-Sep-03 | R | 0 |
| Sydney Swans | Konstanty | Jacob | 09-Nov-04 | 0 | |
| Sydney Swans | Magor | Jaiden | 16-Feb-04 | R | 0 |
| Sydney Swans | Mitchell | Caleb | 10-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| Sydney Swans | Owen | Cameron | 28-May-04 | R | 0 |
| Sydney Swans | Rankin | Lachlan | 05-Feb-03 | 0 | |
| Sydney Swans | Roberts | Matt | 31-Jul-03 | 1 | |
| Sydney Swans | Sheather | Marc | 11-Jun-02 | R | 0 |
| Sydney Swans | Sheldrick | Angus | 07-Nov-03 | 2 | |
| Sydney Swans | Vickery | Cooper | 16-Dec-04 | 0 | |
| Sydney Swans | Warner | Corey | 07-Oct-03 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Baker | Jordyn | 10-May-04 | R | 0 |
| West Coast Eagles | Barnett | Harry | 22-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Bazzo | Rhett | 17-Oct-03 | 9 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Burgiel | Coby | 09-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Chesser | Campbell | 27-Apr-03 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Culley | Jai | 24-Feb-03 | R | 4 |
| West Coast Eagles | Dewar | Tyrell | 27-Mar-04 | R | 0 |
| West Coast Eagles | Ginbey | Reuben | 10-Sep-04 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Hewett | Elijah | 27-May-04 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Long | Noah | 23-Aug-04 | 0 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Trew | Zane | 26-Apr-02 | R | 2 |
| West Coast Eagles | Williams | Jack | 01-Dec-03 | 1 | |
| West Coast Eagles | Winder | Isiah | 16-May-02 | R | 7 |
| Western Bulldogs | Bedendo | Dominic | 09-Jul-02 | 2 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Busslinger | Jedd | 11-Mar-04 | 0 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Clarke | Charlie | 04-Jan-04 | 0 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Cleary | Luke | 05-Mar-02 | 4 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Darcy | Sam | 19-Jul-03 | 4 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Gallagher | Harvey | 26-Sep-03 | 0 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Jones | Arthur | 18-Jul-03 | 0 | |
| Western Bulldogs | Raak | Cody | 08-Oct-02 | R | 0 |
