Fremantle ruckman Zac Clarke's best game for his club has been rewarded with the AFL's round 20 nomination for the Rising Star award.

Clarke battled gamely for the Dockers last Friday night, recording 26 hitouts, 15 disposals and five tackles in his side's clash with St Kilda.

Clarke, who was taken with pick no.37 in the 2008 draft and made his debut in 2009, has been a consistent performer since coming into the team in round 11 this year.

Dockers coach Mark Harvey praised Clarke's development this season, which in recent weeks has coincided with the absence of injured ruckmen Aaron Sandilands and Jon Griffin.

"Without those two players, Zac's effectively been our number one ruckman," Harvey said.

"He's going to get more scrutiny and be watched and dissected, so he knows that he needs to keep improving. But there's a lot more development left in him and that's really exciting.

"Zac's nomination is a just reward for the way he has evolved during the past three years.

"He had a raw background in football, coming to the game relatively late after playing a lot of basketball as a junior. So he probably didn't have that much football instinct or knowledge of how to go about the game."

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