10 Daniel Rich

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Introduction
Daniel Rich is a high possession-winning in-and-under midfielder with a penetrating left foot and quality skills. The high-profile West Australian recruit received the AFL Rising Star Award in his debut season with the Lions and is now widely regarded as one of the most damaging midfielders in the AFL competition.

Background
• West Australian Daniel Rich was an accomplished junior footballer who achieved plenty before even reaching the AFL ranks.

• He joined WAFL side Subiaco in 2007 and played senior football in his first season.

• He graduates from the esteemed AIS/AFL Academy and represented Western Australia in the 2007 U18 national championships and earned All-Australian honours.

• He starred in Subiaco’s 2007 finals campaign including their Grand Final win over Claremont which catapulted him to one of the most talked about teenage prospects in the country.

• During his final year as a junior, Rich showed his leadership potential by captaining Western Australia in the U18 championships and earned All-Australian honours for the second consecutive season.

• He was also a key part of Subiaco’s back-to-back premiership winning team. Remarkably, Rich had featured in two senior WAFL premierships before even being drafted to the AFL.

• Rich was lauded as an almost certain top three selection pre-draft and had even been tipped to be the first player chosen in November’s selection meeting.

• He was unable to participate in much of the Draft Camp testing due to a sore hamstring sustained in the WAFL Grand Final, but still managed to impressive the club recruiters.

• He proved the 2009 National Draft’s big slider, falling to Pick No.7 where the Lions had no hesitation in reading out the highly credentialed West Australian’s name with the Club’s first selection.

2009
• The West Australian teenager didn't put a foot wrong in his first pre-season with the Lions and was rewarded with selection in the Club's season opener against West Coast (the team he had previously supported) at the Gabba.

• Rich had the football world talking after he collected 21 disposals and had eight inside 50s in his first match. The performance earned him the first AFL Rising Star Nomination for the 2009 season and he was immediately intilled as the favourite to take out the award. 

• Rich became a regular contributor to the senior side. His hard-tackling and ball-winning ability were features of his game while his penetrating left foot regularly found targets inside the Lions' attacking zones.

• He collected a season-high 32 disposals against eventual premiers Geelong in Round 15 at the Gabba which further cemented his status as the game's best young player.

• He starred in his first trip back to Subiaco Oval in Round 16, collecting 31 disposals and kicking a 60m goal in the wet against Fremantle.

• He played all 24 senior matches in 2009 - including two Finals - and averaged an impressive 17.3 disposals per match. He also kicked 14 goals during the season which ranked him fifth overall at the Club. 

• He became only the second person in history to be unanimously voted as the AFL Rising Star - receiving top votes from all nine judges. He became only the third person in Club history to take home the prestigious award.

• Rich received further accolades at the AFLPA Awards when he blitzed the field to take home the Best First Year Player Award.

• Not surprisingly, he won the Lions' Rookie of the Year award and also finished 6th overall in the Merrett-Murray Medal - the highest ever placing of a first year Brisbane Lions player.