East Coast Eagles youngster Eugene Kruger is the round seven AFL Sydney NAB Rising Star nominee.

Eugene is in only his third year of Australian football, coming from a very distinguished rugby background, stemming from his South African heritage. As well as playing AFL, Eugene is also a national representative over the 400m hurdles.

He made his senior debut last year for the Eagles at the age of 17 and also played in the 2009 International Rules match.

This is his first full season of senior football and coach Glenn Garner acknowledges that Eugene is one of the developing players at the Eagles and is keen to foster this development with as many opportunities to play at the highest level in 2010.

The Eagles and AFL Sydney followers look forward to watching the progress of this exciting young footballer.