Richmond great Matthew Richardson believes it must surely only be a matter of time before first-year Tiger player Brandon Ellis receives an AFL Rising Star nomination this season.

Ellis, who was Richmond’s first pick (No. 15 overall) in the 2011 National Draft, has played all 15 games so far in his debut league season. 

The 18-year-old is averaging more than 15 disposals per match and is ranked fifth overall among first-year players this season for total disposals. He had a career-high 24 touches against Gold Coast Suns last Saturday.

“We haven’t really heard anyone in the media talking about Brandon, which is probably not a bad thing because he’s just going about his job beautifully,” Richardson said on this week’s “Talking Tigers” podcast.

“His last two weeks have gone up a notch, I reckon.

“Surely, in the next few weeks, they’ve got to get him into the nominations (Rising Star) because there wouldn’t be many guys who have played every game in their first year . . . He continues to impress.”

Ellis also took a game-high 12 marks against the Suns, which, in Richardson’s opinion, further underlines his ability and attitude.

“When you take that many marks, it’s because you’re running to the right spots, you read the play well, and you work hard,” Richardson said.

“When you’re pushing out and getting uncontested marks, it also means you’ve got a good work-rate.”