Ultimate player ratings: Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rate every Port Adelaide player

One is a 348-game club legend and the other is a Brownlow Medallist – but will 2024 hold for Travis Boak and Ollie Wines? We look at how they fit into Ken Hinkley’s current side.

Connor Rozee or Zak Butters?

Who would you pick right now and which of the two might have the better resume when they almost certainly are elevated to the Australian Football Hall of Fame next decade?

It’s the endless debate that divides even the most fervent Port Adelaide supporters.

The two outstanding midfielders – and now inspirational leaders – are among the best one-two engine room combinations in the game right now.

Could they end up being remembered in the same vein as Voss and Black; Mitchell and Hodge; Martin and Cotchin; and Pendlebury and Swan in the modern era.

The scary thing is both still have further levels to climb, given the new skipper Rozee has only just turned 24 and his vice-captain Butters is still 23.

The debate will rage on, with Power fans at least content that they are now locked into the club for the long-term.

On 2023 form, you have to give the ever-so-slight edge to Butters, who won the AFL Coaches Association award. We’ve forecast him narrowly ahead of his captain in the 2024 ratings – by one solitary point.

But it wouldn’t surprise if Rozee rips the mantle off his good mate this year, and we expect him to flourish in the role as captain for many seasons ahead.

As far as the future hall of fame resume goes, it’s an impossible equation to have to navigate. But it is going to be fun watching to find out.

And could 20-year-old Jason Horne-Francis throw a wildcard into the equation and turn Port Adelaide into an unstoppable midfield troika in 2024 and beyond?

Criteria: Prediction of their 2024 performance based on their 2023 season, expected improvement and role in their side.

Originally published as Ultimate player ratings: Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rate every Port Adelaide player