East Fremantle, Aquinas College product Jeremy Sharp earns round 18 AFL Rising Star nomination for Gold Coast Suns

Another week, another WA Rising Star nomination.

East Fremantle and Aquinas College product Jeremy Sharp has become the sixth West Aussie nominated for the award after his breakout performance for Gold Coast on Saturday.

In just his sixth AFL appearance, the 19-year-old racked up a career-best 30 disposals to go with 510 metres gained, 10 marks, nine score involvements and seven rebound 50s in a narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs at home.

A dual Under-18s All-Australian for the Black Swans, including their carnival-winning campaign in 2019, Sharp was drafted by the Suns with pick 27 in the national draft that year.

The surfy-haired speedster struggled for regular game time in his first season-and-a-half at Metricon Stadium before breaking into the side against North Melbourne in round 15.

He’s since played four consecutive matches, averaging more than 21 touches and six marks in that time to announce himself on the AFL stage.

He edged out top draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who kicked three goals in the same match, for the round 18 nomination.

Sharp follows in the footsteps of Sydney’s Chad Warner (round three), Port Adelaide’s Mitch Georgiades (round five), Melbourne pair Luke Jackson (round seven), Trent Rivers (round 11) and Brisbane Lion Deven Robertson (round 15) to get a nomination from WA this year.

He’s one of four who have come through East Fremantle’s development pathway (alongside Warner, Jackson and Rivers) and one of three from his PSA school (after Warner and Robertson).

But he won’t be coming back to WA anytime soon, signing a two-year contract extension a few months back to keep him at the Suns until at least the end of 2023.