Collingwood youngster Tim Broomhead is the Rising Star nominee for Round 11.

The 21-year-old was rewarded for a career-best 25 disposals (13 contested), four inside 50s and a goal in the club’s 42-point win over Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.

The Pies midfielder has averaged 14 disposals across his eight games in 2015 – with another standout performance coming in Round 3 against St Kilda, where he collected 22 disposals (12 contested), five tackles, five inside 50s, six clearances and a goal.

Broomhead was recruited with pick 20 in the 2012 draft, which was originally the compensation pick given to Adelaide for losing defender Phil Davis to GWS. This pick was on-traded in a complicated deal that saw picks 3 (Lachie Plowman) and 14 (Aidan Corr) go to the Giants, and Jesse Hogan, Dominic Barry and Chris Dawes to the Demons.

The Pies eventually received Broomhead and pick 38 (Jackson Ramsay) after further trades with North Melbourne at the end of 2012.

“He is quiet but once you gain his trust and he opens up he is a warm, gentle, fun-loving man” – Brodie Grundy on Tim Broomhead

Broomhead suffered a bout of glandular fever in early 2013, delaying his debut at any level until Round 8, where he made a return via the VFL.

He spent the remainder of the season at the lower level developing well and was named as an emergency for one game during the year.

He was again struck down by injury at the beginning of 2014 before a series of strong performances in the VFL forced the Pies to pick him for his League debut in Round 13 against the Bulldogs, where he started as the sub.

He was the sub again the following week against the Hawks, before being given another stint in the VFL. Eventually working his way back into the side, Broomhead played out the final six games of the season, averaging 16 disposals a game and kicking nine majors.

Earlier this season, his best friend at the club Brodie Grundy said Broomhead was growing away from the field, as well as on it.

“This year he’s opened up and become more confident in himself and the guys have a really strong liking for him. He comes to social functions now and the boys love it and come up to him. He is quiet but once you gain his trust and he opens up he is a warm, gentle, fun-loving man,” Grundy told The Age.

“We play chess when we travel and room together. He is not on Instagram or social media, which I think says a lot about him. He is hopeless to get on his phone, he never answers his phone.”

Broomhead is the 33^rd Collingwood player to be nominated for the Ron Evans Medal since the award’s inception in 1993, with the club receiving a nomination in each season since 1998. The Pies are the only club to have received more than 30 nominations without registering a winner of the award.