AFL 2024: The 47 players rated ‘elite’ this season by Champion Data
Champion Data has crunched the numbers to find the AFL’s elite players. Some names are obvious but others have surprised, but only one club in the league was snubbed. See the full list.
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There is nothing to count for Essendon fans, while Sydney sits pretty on top of the ladder and on top of the list of “elite” players in the AFL this season.
To find who have been the best of the best by the numbers, Champion Data crunched the numbers to provide the top players in each position.
To qualify as “elite” on this list, a player had to be in the top 10 per cent in his position, per player ratings points, with 47 players qualifying.
Player ratings points is a system designed to measure impact on games, with Marcus Bontempelli at the top of the tree this year.
Sadly for the Bombers, they are the only club without a single player rated elite, meaning skipper Zach Merrett has missed the cut, while Collingwood and Fremantle have provided just one name each.
At the other end, Sydney leads all comers with five names.
Some picks are obvious – such as Bontempelli, Charlie Curnow and Nick Daicos.
But others surprised, with Justin McInerney, Matt Rowell and Alex Neal-Bullen making the cut.
ADELAIDE
Mitch Hinge (general defender), Izak Rankine (gen forward)
Hinge may be a surprise on this list but his raking left foot has made him a big improver in what has been a miserable season for the Crows.
He has averaged 23.1 disposals and 448 metres-gained and his spot on this list edges out players such as Lachie Whitfield, Nic Martin, Adam Saad and Tom Stewart.
Rankine’s growth has been clear to see all year and he is growing into one of the best matchwinners in the game and he is clearly the top rated general forward in the league.
BRISBANE LIONS
Dayne Zorko (gen defender), Cam Rayner (gen forward)
Rayner has come with a serious rush. He has kicked multiple goals in each of his last five games and was dominant against both Sydney and Gold Coast.
Consistency has always been an issue for Rayner but if he can deliver like this in the finals he can take the Lions a long way.
Lachie Neale could win a third Brownlow Medal this year but has not been graded as elite. Harris Andrews was next in line among key defenders.
It’s been a serious renaissance for Zorko this season, who has dominated off a back flank. Could he win a sixth best-and-fairest?
CARLTON
Charlie Curnow (key forward), Harry McKay (key forward), Patrick Cripps (midfielder)
Just six key forwards make this list, and Carlton has two of them, with Curnow ranked first and McKay third.
You don’t need me to make the case for Cripps, who has been superb.
The Blues that missed out include Sam Walsh, Tom De Koning, Adam Saad and Jacob Weitering.
COLLINGWOOD
Nick Daicos (midfielder)
A good way to measure why the Pies have fell off this year is that simply, they don’t have as many good players as last year.
Just superstar Nick Daicos makes this list.
Halfway through last year, Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey, Josh Daicos and Steele Sidebottom were all deemed elite, but the output for that quarter has fallen away.
Beau McCreery, Brody Mihocek were rated ‘above average’ but have been injured heavily, while Taylor Adams was on that list but now plays for Sydney.
ESSENDON
Nil
No players at the Bombers are rated elite, the only club in the competition to miss out.
Skipper Zach Merrett sits 14th among midfielders.
Jordan Ridley would have slipped in as a key defender but hasn’t hit 10 games yet this season, while Nic Martin was not far off.
Clearly the Dons need to lift in the back-end of the season and a huge number of players need to pick up some slack.
FREMANTLE
Caleb Serong (midfielder)
The Magpies and Dockers each have the least amount of elite players, yet it is the even spread from Fremantle that has it in the top-four.
Hayden Young, Sean Darcy, Luke Jackson, Andrew Brayshaw, Sam Switkowski and Luke Ryan were all on the bubble.
Josh Treacy and Jordan Clark were both also unlucky not to make the cut.
GEELONG
Max Holmes (gen defender), Gryan Miers (gen forward), Tyson Stengle (gen forward), Jeremy Cameron (key forward)
Holmes is perhaps a tad lucky to make the cut here, given he has spent a heap of time as a midfielder and he wouldn’t have made the cut if put in that position.
But he has spent more as a general defender and has taken a large step forward this year as a crucial member of Geelong’s side.
Up forward, Stengle ranks as the third-best general forward and Miers the fourth. And Shaun Mannagh would have also made this list if he met the 10-game threshold.
GOLD COAST
Sam Flanders (gen defender), Sam Collins (key defender), Matt Rowell (midfielder)
Flanders has spent a lot of time forward and on the ball, as his magnet was thrown around, but qualifies here as a general defender.
Matt Rowell surprisingly makes this list. Midfielders who didn’t earn an elite rating include Merrett, Noah Anderson, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Chad Warner. It’s hard to argue Rowell has been better than them this year.
Sam Collins may raise some eyebrows with footy fans but he has been super this year and is the top key defender by the ratings.
GWS GIANTS
Brent Daniels (gen forward), Toby Greene (gen forward), Jesse Hogan (key forward), Callan Ward (wing)
Just four wings make the list, with Callan Ward slipping in after 14 games. His move to the outside has worked well for the Giants.
Greene is perhaps lucky here, having struggled in front of goal all year, while Hogan and Daniels have both enjoyed career years.
Whitfield, Josh Kelly and Tom Green fell just short.
HAWTHORN
Dylan Moore (gen forward), James Sicily (key defender), Massimo D’Ambrosio (wing)
Struggling for gametime at Essendon, D’Ambrosio has played like a star at Hawthorn in one of many trade wins for the resurgent Hawks.
Only Izak Rankine rates better than Moore as a general forward and the Hawk deserves to be in the thick of the All-Australian race.
And James Sicily has bounced back from a slow start this year to return back to his old form, even with a sore shoulder.
The likes of Will Day, Jai Newcombe and Josh Weddle will surely be close to the elite status soon.
MELBOURNE
Kysaiah Pickett (gen forward), Christian Petracca (midfielder), Alex Neal-Bullen (mid-forward), Max Gawn (ruck)
A very good soldier, Neal-Bullen is a surprise on this list. But that speaks to the lack of depth in that position.
The players who didn’t quite make the cut as mid-forwards were Jy Simpkin, Pat Lipinski and Ollie Dempsey.
Neal-Bullen does his job each week but averages just 18.7 disposals and 0.4 goals per game.
Petracca hit the games threshold to make it here before his injury, while Gawn is clear as the top ruck according to player ratings.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Harry Sheezel (gen defender), Tristan Xerri (ruck)
Despite being thrown into the middle for most of the past couple of months, Sheezel is listed here as a general defender. And he is the top ranked general defender in the league. Hard to believe he is still 20 years old.
Is Xerri the most improved player in the game? Some were concerned how the Roos would handle losing the experience of Todd Goldstein in the ruck but Xerri has been brilliant. He sits behind only Max Gawn in the ruck rankings.
Luke Davies-Uniacke came close to elite among midfielders.
PORT ADELAIDE
Dan Houston (gen defender), Zak Butters (midfielder)
No big surprises here. Butters if the fifth best midfielder in the game this year by the ratings and Houston is fifth among general defenders.
Connor Rozee hasn’t quite been at the level most expected.
Halfway through last year, Charlie Dixon, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Jeremy Finlayson and Sam Powell-Pepper were all rated above average, and none have had near the same impact this season.
RICHMOND
Liam Baker (mid-forward), Shai Bolton (mid-forward)
Baker and Bolton fill out what is a shallow pool for the mid-forwards this year.
Toby Nankervis missed the cut but has had a good season, while Tim Taranto and Daniel Rioli are among other decent performers.
ST KILDA
Jack Sinclair (gen defender), Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (gen defender)
Both Sinclair and Wanganeen-Milera – more recently – have been sent into the midfield to provide more drive for the Saints but both are categorised as general defenders.
Rowan Marshall just missed out in the ruck, while Cal Wilkie was also short as a key defender.
Last year Mason Wood and Mitch Owens were elite at this point of the season but Owens has battled a bit this year and Wood has been working through injuries.
SYDNEY
Nick Blakey (gen defender), Tom Papley (gen forward), Isaac Heeney (midfielder), Errol Gulden (wing), Justin McInerney (wing)
No team can match the ladder leaders with five elite players.
One of the best kicks in the game this year, not many fans outside of Sydney would rate McInerney as a top winger this year.
No surprise he has been joined by Gulden.
Chad Warner surprisingly misses out among midfielders, while James Rowbottom only narrowly trailed Warner by the numbers.
WEST COAST
Tom Barrass (key defender), Jeremy McGovern (key defender), Jake Waterman (key forward)
One of the great recoveries of the year, Waterman is the sixth-rated Eagle this year but slots in among the top key forwards. There is nobody better on the lead this year.
Key back pair Barrass and McGovern have done it all before back there, with Barrass the last man to make the key defender list, just ahead of Harris Andrews and Cal Wilkie.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Bailey Dale (gen defender), Aaron Naughton (key forward), Marcus Bontempelli (midfielder), Adam Treloar (midfielder)
Remember when Bailey Dale was made the sub back in round five? He has been largely brilliant since and is surely in the All-Australian squad of 40.
Treloar is having the best season of his career and no player is averaging more disposals per game than the ball magnet.
Naughton’s presence here may be a surprise to some – he is equal-34th for goals in the league with 26 – but he has had a well-rounded season.
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