Ultimate player ratings: Footy experts Glenn McFarlane and Mick McGuane rate every player in the AFL

If you’re going to contend for the flag, depth is of ultra importance. So which clubs bat deep, and who’s making up the numbers? We rate every AFL player to find out.

It’s footy’s ultimate player ratings.

In a huge undertaking comprising countless hours combined with intel from dozens of insiders, one of the game’s best footy minds Mick McGuane and one of the Herald Sun’s longest serving footy writers Glenn McFarlane joined forces to assess the 2023 prospects of every player currently on an AFL list.

That’s almost 800 players across 18 clubs spread out across six states!

The ground rules were simple; the outcome was anything but.

McGuane and McFarlane were given the herculean task of providing a rating out of 10 for all the listed and rookie players across the competition.

The ratings were based on what sort of impact that player has the potential to achieve this season - not on what they have done in the past or what they could do deep into the future.

It is purely based on 2023, a quest to project the upper spiral of their AFL capabilities this season.

That’s why some of those players who are going into the season under an injury cloud have been marked slightly harder than they could have been if they had had a seamless pre-season.

From the outset, they resolved to give no 10/10s, as no one can ever be considered the perfect player.

Everyone has scope for improvement. The best of the best know that more than anyone else, as evidenced by the likes of Clayton Oliver, Patrick Cripps and Marcus Bontempelli who work as hard - if not harder - as anyone else to ensure they get better year on year.

Marcus Bontempelli is one of the top ranked players in the competition. Picture: Michael Klein

Only eight players from seven different clubs rated the top billing at 9.5/10.

New draftees’ ratings or young players ranged from 6/10 to 2.5/10, depending on how close they are to selection, or in Will Ashcroft’s case, who is the short-priced favourite to win the Rising Star.

Rookies and Category B players, some of whom won’t get a look in this year unless something extraordinary happens, received some of the lowest rankings. But that is not a spray on their talent. It is purely because they are not expected to play senior AFL footy this season.

Players who are set to miss the entire season were allocated a flat 1/10, purely as a result of the fact they can still contribute to what goes on behind closed doors. For instance, Zac Williams won’t play a game for Carlton this year due to his knee reconstruction, but it won’t stop him having an impact within the club.

There was lively debate, and even a few crossed words at times, on certain players with some of the more contentious ones including Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca.

Petracca was rated 9/10, even though Mark Robinson rated him as the second best player in the AFL in his Top 50.

Christian Petracca’s kicking for goal cost him a rating point. Picture: Getty Images

McGuane was insistent that he had to take one half point off Petracca for his inability at times to finish in front of goal.

Charlie Curnow, rated No. 1 in Robinson’s Top 50, also rated a 9/10, while his Brownlow Medal winning teammate Patrick Cripps was a half a point ahead of him at 9.5/10.

McGuane and McFarlane concede they are not kidding themselves to suggest they have got every player right.

Far from it. They have invested in some players who may end up sliding down the totem pole for various reasons by season’s end.

Others marked harshly might even rocket up the ratings with greater opportunities or a sharp spike in performances.

In doing so, the pair have effectively rated the collective playing lists of the 18 clubs, showing what a difficult job it is for those list managers who are looking at the now, as well as deep into the future.

Originally published as Ultimate player ratings: Footy experts Glenn McFarlane and Mick McGuane rate every player in the AFL