Former Coburg player and 2014 VFL Team of the Year selection Adam Saad is the Round Five NAB AFL Rising Star nominee.
The Gold Coast Suns draftee received votes in the Marcus Ashcroft Medal following the Suns’ 64-point win over the Brisbane Lions in Saturday night’s Q-Clash.
The running defender collected 26 possessions, took seven marks and had nine bounces in the Suns’ first win of the season.
After being over looked in two NAB AFL Drafts, Adam, 20, was selection 25 in last year’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft and was upgraded to the Suns’ senior list after impressing in all three NAB Challenge matches.
He made is AFL debut in Round One and has played all five games this year.
Adam played junior football with the West Coburg Football Club and the Calder Cannons. He represented the World XVIII at the 2011 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.
He progressed to Coburg where he was joint winner of the 2014 club best and fairest and was named in the VFL Team of the Year. He also represented the VFL in an International Rules Challenge match against Ireland late last year.
Adam is one of three practising Muslim players in AFL (Richmond’s Bachar Houli and St Kilda’s Ahmed Saad – no relation).
Suns coach Rodney Eade said Adam has done everything possible to get his chance to play at the highest level.
“Adam is a great story of perseverance. Overlooked in two drafts, he continued to work on his game, and with the help of Peter German and the staff at Coburg he’s hard work resulted in him gaining a rookie spot last year.
“Since arriving on the Gold Coast Adam hasn’t put a foot wrong, his attitude and willingness to learn saw him earn a rookie elevation and selection in our first five games of the season.
“Adam has had a great start to the season, he’s ability to take the game on and generate run for the team has been outstanding. With further development, education and hard work we believe Adam has an exciting career ahead of him,” Eade said.
Last Modified on 05/05/2015 11:19