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On an evening of somewhat surprising selections – 28-year-old Shaun Mannagh winning the coaches’ best “young player” of 2025, and the captain of the all-Australian team professing surprise since he’d never captained anything – the bench for the official team of the year was notable for two illustrious names.
It was understandable that Marcus Bontempelli was named on the bench for the All-Australian team, given he missed the first five matches of 2025. It is a tribute to the Bont’s talents and drive that he still made the 22.
Less defensible was the selection of Nick Daicos on the bench, in a season in which the Collingwood prodigy was named as the players’ choice as most valuable player. One wonders why the All-Australian selectors weren’t given a heads-up that Daicos would be on the podium for the Leigh Matthews Trophy.
Nick Daicos took home the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFLPA MVP for 2025. Could the Brownlow be next?Credit: AFL Photos
In assessing the top 30 AFL players, I’ve stuck with the tandem of Bontempelli and the younger Daicos, in that order, as the competition’s best pair during 2025.
They narrowly eclipse Sydney’s super match-winner Isaac Heeney (No.3), and Geelong’s nonchalant goal-kicking savant Jeremy Cameron, who retains a longshot shot at becoming the first century goalkicker since Lance Franklin’s apogee at Hawthorn 17 years ago.
These top-30 players have been ranked, again, based on a two-year cycle – much like the Royal and Ancient’s golf rankings.
So, one super season does not make a player top-five or 10, but equally, a major decline in output or influence means you can fall out of the top 30 altogether.
At his best, Christian Petracca is comfortably a top-10 player. I had him slotted at No.3, behind only the Bont and Nick Daicos, in the pre-season – a poor projection of what was coming. Patrick Cripps, coming off a second Brownlow, was next at No.4.
Those mighty players struggled in 2025, to the point that they’ve lost positions in the top 30. One would hope, for the sake of Michael Voss and whoever next coaches Melbourne, that Cripps and Petracca can re-assert themselves as A+ players in 2026.
Zak Butters, whose combination of quick feet and a big heart make him nonpareil in Port’s under-performing side, is ranked next at six, ahead of the rising Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson, who should probably be Brownlow Medal topweight and was the logical choice to skipper the All-Australian team.
His Gold Coast counterpart Noah Anderson, an inside-and-out threat and superb ball user, is the seventh-ranked player in the competition.
The sublime Hugh McCluggage (No.8), finally recognised by the All-Australian selectors, has shot up the charts this year and has been the premier player for the most talented team, the Lions.
His teammate Harris Andrews vies with Giant Sam Taylor as the most influential defender in the game, and was judged a top-tenner (No.9). Sydney’s explosive Chad Warner (10), while less influential than in 2024, remains a player who turns games regularly.
Max Holmes (11) is Geelong’s most important player, besides Jezza, despite the outstanding season of the AFL’s most visible figure and social media icon, Bailey Smith (No.20).
Max Gawn could be higher than 12, and would be in many lists, having retained the rage at 33 that some teammates seemed to lack. Caleb Serong (13), too, is a standard-bearer for his Dockers, who have prospered on the back of recruiting Shai Bolton (26) from the Tigers.
Some pundits would rate Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, about to become the AFL’s highest-paid player, above number 14, but this column reckons he has yet to show he can cope with relentless harassment from the opposition. Next year, on current trajectory, Nas could well be top five.
The imposing Riley Thilthorpe has been a huge part of Adelaide’s rapid rise up the ladder in 2025.Credit: AFL Photos
Riley Thilthorpe, Adelaide’s mountain and answer to Tom Hawkins, is the premier big-man key forward (J. Cameron being more of a Franklin-esque flanker) in 2025 and deserves a top-20 ranking, ahead of Lion machine Lachie Neale, Giant wall Taylor, and Gold Coast’s bull Matt Rowell (18).
Thilthorpe’s fellow key forwards Charlie Curnow and Jesse Hogan were top dozen players foiled by injury.
The Crows will sorely miss Izak Rankine on Thursday, as a rare player who can turn a game upside down. He’s at 19, just before Bailey Smith and the competition’s most-imposing physical specimen, Sam Darcy (21), whose reach puts greatness within his reach soon.
Jai Newcome isn’t as classy as teammate Will Day, who would be top 20 if not for his troublesome foot. Newcombe, though, is a considerable force in the middle and Hawthorn’s premier player again.
Josh Dunkley (23) is undersold, though not at Brisbane, the midfielder having the unusual capacity to win a heap of the footy and constrain opponents via two-way running. He’s rated just in front of Giant inside mid Tom Green, and Essendon’s indefatigable Zach Merrett, who will be hoping that someone in red and black joins in the top 30 some day.
Tom Stewart and Jacob Weitering retain spots in the top 30 from pre-season – Weitering among the few Blues to maintain his standards – and fitness/health – in a wretched year for Carlton. Stewart, if less dominant than in 2024, is still a defender whom the opposition plans against.
Ed Richards, an emerging gun at the Bulldogs, and Melbourne’s quicksilver forward, Kysaiah Pickett, complete the top 30.
If the All-Australian selectors and many a pundit would have Richards higher, my view is that he’s done enough to be top 30 – which is genuinely elite – but is not a player, like Bontempelli, Daicos or Heeney, whom his team can yet count on in a crisis.
The top 30
Rankings consider the player’s consistency, capacity to influence games and are formed over the previous two seasons.