Tyanna Smith’s red-hot display under Friday night lights has been recognised with the NAB Rising Star nomination for Round 4.
The 18-year-old looked right at home at RSEA Park despite having just four senior games to her name, rounding out her super evening with 16 disposals, 13 touches and eight score involvements.
Her fierce attack and pressure – complemented by her silky pick-ups at ground level – only ramped up as the match wore on, with 11 of her tackles coming in the second half.
In the absence of Best & Fairest midfielder Olivia Vesely, Smith has slotted seamlessly into St Kilda’s midfield make-up and has partnered excellently with All-Australian nominee Georgia Patrikios.
The top-10 draft pick currently sits equal-second in the AFLW for tackles alongside Roise Dillon and has ranked highly in the Saints’ score involvements (first), metres gained (second) and inside-50 (second) numbers.
Smith becomes the fifth AFLW Saint to receive the league-wide honour following nominations for Tarni White (Round 1, 2021), Georgia Patrikios (Round 1, 2020), Caitlin Greiser (Round 3, 2020) and Olivia Vesely (Round 5, 2020).
