Geelong young gun Ollie Dempsey is three games away from likely claiming an unlikely 2024 Rising Star title after emerging as a surprise contender thanks to some strong form through the back half of the season.
While it's been a consistent campaign for the 21-year, suspensions to past favourites Harley Reid and Sam Darcy in Round 12 blew the race for the award wide open. Dempsey sat at $21 for the award to start the season and blew out to $41 before Reid and Darcy were made ineligible, with the pair of suspensions then seeing the Cats forward come into $6.
It seems only the MRO can put a line through Dempsey's prospects this late into the season, with the next-best contender in North Melbourne's George Wardlaw missing further matches in the last month of the home and away campaign to dampen his chances.
Dempsey and Wardlaw went head-to-head in Round 20 in Tasmania, with the former coming away with the advantage after booting three goals from 18 disposals in a win for the Cats.
After earning a promotion to the senior list ahead of this year, Dempsey has almost tripled the number of matches he played at AFL level prior to this season, in 2024 alone. Across his 20 games under Chris Scott this season, the crafty forward-wing hybrid has kicked 18 goals and assisted a further 21 while averaging 17.25 disposals and 4.15 marks per game.
His goal assists tally puts him eighth in the league and No.1 at Geelong for the year, with the next best Rising Star-eligible player being GWS small forward Harvey Thomas, who has 13 assists, placing him equal 46th in the AFL for the metric.
Wardlaw sits third among those who fit the Rising Star criteria, with 10 assists from his 16 games.
Dempsey's 18 goals for the year have him third among Rising Star candidates across the AFL also, with the aforementioned Darcy (27 goals) and Brisbane livewire Kai Lohmann (22) the only players ahead of the emerging Cat.
Perhaps it's Dempsey's basketball background that has him built different when compared to the rest of the pack, with the Cats managing to pluck the athletic youngster out of nowhere via the 2021 Rookie Draft.
In a re-draft of that entire class, Dempsey would likely sit among a top 10 of young stars that includes Collingwood star Nick Daicos, Pick 1 selection Jason Horne-Francis, Suns gun Mac Andrew, Fremantle sharpshooter Jye Amiss and Darcy, who were all taken in the opening eight picks.
A Rising Star crown for Dempsey would see him become Geelong's second-ever winner of the award, with club great Joel Selwood being the first to do so in 2007.
Dempsey became just the second Cat to claim a nomination since the end of the 2019 season, following close mate Sam De Koning's nod midway through Geelong's premiership season two years ago.
Recruit Lawson Humphries managed to join Dempsey on the 2024 nominations list for his stellar Round 18 performance against Collingwood, which was just his third game at AFL level.
Wardlaw won't be the only player who's earned a Rising Star nomination that will likely poll votes from the judges this year, with Kangaroos teammates Colby McKercher and Jackson Archer - the latter receiving his nod this week - also among the top contenders.
A potential season-ending ankle injury to Melbourne speedster Caleb Windsor put a line through his chances with a month left in the season, while the form of first-half contenders Darcy Wilson (St Kilda) and Matt Roberts (Sydney) has fluctuated.
Three nominations are still up for grabs to round out this year's Rising Star class, with Western Bulldogs ball-winner Ryley Sanders, Hawthorn forward Calsher Dear, Eagles tall Jack Williams and Richmond youngster Seth Campbell among the best options still yet to receive nominations.
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