The AFL New Zealand Rising Star award will be awarded weekly to a standout young player in the 2018 AFL New Zealand Premiership.
Each week the award will be allocated to those who show ability that favours the core components it takes to become an AFL Player. To be eligible to be nominated for the award, a player must be born in 2000 or younger.
The AFL New Zealand Rising Star award for round 4 of the 2018 AFL New Zealand Premiership has been awarded to Jevaan Croft from the AFL New Zealand Academy.
After his consistent form playing as a Development Player in this year’s Premiership, Jevaan has shown attributes of what it takes to perform at the highest level.
Jevaan continues to develop his game and his speed and vision are some of his best attributes so early in his career.
The 17 year old made his New Zealand debut for the Academy Level 2 side back in April last year and was selected for the New Zealand U18 side to play against the Port Adelaide Indigenous Academy in December.
“Jevaan has been developing his game over the last 5 months and it is great to see him show casing this through the chances provided him as a development player in the Premiership.
The next step for Jevaan will be to use this experience playing up a level and see him take this knowledge and confidence and become a leader amongst his peers within the AFLNZ Academy Programme.” National Youth Manager, Mick Coultard.
AFL New Zealand Media caught up with Jevaan during the week.
What School/University do you attend?
Alfriston College in Counties Manukau
What kind of sports did you play growing up?
Growing up I played a number of different sports including Soccer, Touch, Rugby, Rugby League, Basketball and Ki-o-Rahi.
How did you get into AFL?
I started playing club footy for the Manurewa Raiders through my brother in law.
What do you enjoy about playing AFL?
I like the fact that you need to be very fit when playing this sport. Also, playing on a bigger ground than most other sports, I like how much open space you have which give me more time to make decisions.
What are your goals for AFL in the future?
Representing New Zealand in ANZAC was a huge honour last year, so I would love to be selected again this year,
What do you think your biggest advantage is out on the field?
My speed, vision and footwork are my biggest advantages against more of my bigger opponents.
