AFL Position Rankings: Melbourne has the league’s best defence based on our expert consensus verdict

The foundation of most premiership sides is their defence – so who has the best backline heading in 2024? Is it finally time for St Kilda? We rate and rank every club.

When asked recently why he backs in Simon Goodwin as among the best coaches in the league, Melbourne skipper Max Gawn pointed to “defence on contest”.

The champion ruck said his Demons were consistently among the best teams in those two facets of the game, and we agree.

After the Demons took out our rankings of every midfield brigade, they backed it up by being voted the best AFL defence as well.

Steven May and the Demons have dominated opposition forwards. Picture: Michael Klein

EXPERT RANKINGS:MIDFIELD | FORWARD

With Steven May and Jake Lever marshalling the air, Melbourne has been an outstanding defence for the best part of half a decade.

While their attack still needs work, the fact our six footy experts have Melbourne at the top of the tree in the other thirds of the ground underlines their premiership credentials.

The premiership defence at Collingwood came in a near second in our rankings.

Each team was given votes from 1-18, with 18 being the best team.

The Demons did not secure a single ‘best’ ranking of 18 votes but polled 100 in total, just edging out Collingwood on 97.

The news was not good for an undermanned North Melbourne outfit.

Check out where every team rated and have your say whether we got it right.