Brisbane teenager Lewis Taylor has won the AFL Rising Star Award after one of the tightest votes in its 22-year history.
The Lions small forward and midfielder polled 39 votes from the judges with Marcus Bontempelli from the Western Bulldogs finishing one vote behind him.
Taylor received the maximum five votes from only five of the 10 judges.
Former Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling did not give Taylor any votes.
Taylor and Bontempelli were level when the last set of votes from former St Kilda captain Danny Frawley were read out.
Frawley gave Taylor five votes and Bontempelli four.
Taylor played all 22 games for Brisbane this year in his debut season.
| Games | Kicks | Handballs | Disposals | Masks | Goals | Behinds |
| 22 | 197 | 174 | 371 | 88 | 12 | 8 |
| 22 | 9 | 7.9 | 16.9 | 4 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
That was despite still recovering from a foot injury when he joined the Lions late last year.
The 19-year-old averaged nearly 17 disposals per game and kicked 12 goals.
Taylor, Dayne Zorko and Josh Green have formed an impressive “mosquito fleet” of Lions small forwards.
He was nominated after the Lions’ round nine loss to North Melbourne, when Taylor had 20 possessions.
Taylor came through the Geelong under-18 side and was a standout for Vic Country in last year’s national championships.
The Lions recruited him with their second pick at No.28 in the national draft late last year.
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