Dwayne Russell has gone through all 18 AFL forward lines and has ranked his top 10 going into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
Only one finalist from last year did not have their forward line make the list, which shows the importance of what a good forward line can have to a team’s finals chances.<\/p>\n
And with some teams making plays for big key forwards during last year\u2019s Trade Period, it has certainly helped bolster their position in the ranking.<\/p>\n
See Dwayne\u2019s list below with some explanation behind his selections.<\/p>\n
10. Western Bulldogs<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why I\u2019ve got the Bulldogs at 10, and some probably believe that the Bulldogs should be a little higher than 10.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSam Darcy could be an absolute superstar. He could be the best player in the comp come the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it thins out beyond (Aaron) Naughton (and) Rhylee West. Cody Weightman is injured a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I am just wondering who the fifth and sixth forwards are for the Bulldogs to make that forward line as good as it could be against some of the others that have got more weaponry.\u201d<\/p>\n
9. St Kilda<\/p>\n
\u201cMax King is the big unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s fit, (there\u2019s a) big question mark still. But Max King, Tom De Koning, if he plays forward or Rowan Marshall, if he plays forward, depending on who rucks and who ends up being their main forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdded to Mattaes Phillipou, Mitch Owens, Jack Higgins, and Liam Ryan (who) has been added to that mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, there\u2019s another variable.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. Fremantle<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to get out of Pat Voss this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShowed some great signs. We don\u2019t know if Murphy Reid is going to be the next big thing. Will Josh Treacy be the next big thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Luke Jackson going to spend a lot of time forward and not rucking? Shai Bolton and Jye Amiss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty good forward line for Fremantle, especially if they get it in there a little quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
7. Hawthorn<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure who their dominant guy is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it might end up being Nick Watson. It might end up being Calsher Dear. It might end up being Jack Gunston again. It might end up being Mitch Lewis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have got a number of players that can dominate. But when you look at their overall\u2026just look at these names (like Mabior) Chol, (Dylan) Moore, (Jack) Ginnivan, Watson, Dear, Gunston (and) Lewis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty good without one of those guys being a top 10 forward in the competition.”<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, a good spread for Hawthorn (in their forwards).”<\/p>\n
6. Gold Coast Suns<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Jamarra (Ugle-Hagan) has a 20-game season, then it is going to change the Gold Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve already got Ben King, who might win the Coleman; they\u2019ve got Ethan Read, who might be the next big thing. They\u2019ve got Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Jed Walter, Bailey Humphrey and Ben Long.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty good forward line\u2026but Jamarra is an unknown.”<\/p>\n
\u201cSo let\u2019s just put them at six.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. Adelaide Crows<\/p>\n
\u201cTaylor Walker\u2026yeah, he is a year older, but they\u2019ve added Cal Ah Chee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Riley Thilthorpe is not rucking; he plays forward. You\u2019ve got Riley Thilthorpe, Cal Ah Chee, Tex Walker, Darcy Fogarty, Josh Rachele.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019ve got that wildcard Izak Rankine alongside Ben Keays if he\u2019s also in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Izak Rankine might end up playing the majority of this year in the midfield.”<\/p>\n
\u201cBut gee, it\u2019s a pretty good forward line.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. GWS Giants<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are pretty well stacked as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJesse Hogan is a superstar. Toby Greene is a superstar. He might not have the leap that he once had, but you still have to match up on him and make sure he doesn\u2019t get off the chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he can beat you in a good five minutes of footy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Hogan, Greene, (Jake) Stringer, (Aaron) Cadman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you\u2019ve got guys like Jake Riccardi, Toby Bedford, (and) Brent Daniels roaming the flanks. I think they are looking pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Geelong Cats<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve still got Jeremy Cameron. They\u2019ve got Patrick Dangerfield, Shannon Neale, Gryan Miers\u2026arguably the best ball user (from) just outside 50 to kick it inside 50 in the comp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Cameron, Neale, Dangerfield, Miers and (Tyson) Stengle, I think, still have Geelong at three.”<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Jeremy Cameron) is still the most difficult player in the competition to stop as a forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Brisbane Lions<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they are pretty well spread forward line when it comes to talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they\u2019ve also added Oscar Allen. Oscar Allen at his best is a superstar, and he\u2019s fit at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, when you consider what they have got. They\u2019ve got Charlie Cameron, Zac Bailey, Cam Rayner, Logan Morris, Kai Lohmann, Ty Gallop showed some great signs in the finals series last year and Oscar Allen.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are pretty well stacked when it comes to that forward line, so I\u2019ve got them at two.\u201d<\/p>\n
1- Sydney Swans<\/p>\n
\u201cIf (Isaac) Heeney or (Chad) Warner are forward as well, if they don\u2019t have them both in the centre square, then you\u2019re going to have one of either Heeney or Warner (who are) two superstars on a flank.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you think about that forward line. Charlie Curnow, Isaac Heeney, Joel Amartey, Tom Papley, when he\u2019s fit and he will be fit hopefully after the first couple of rounds.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve added Malcolm Rosas, and they\u2019ve got Logan McDonald to come back (from an ankle injury) and Hayden McLean, who probably won\u2019t get a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Hayden McLean is not getting a game in that forward line, I think they are going okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they are going to be a very potent forward line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first of the official pre-season matches gets underway on February 25 when Carlton hosts Geelong at Ikon Park.<\/p>\n
The Blues will also start the 2026 season when they travel to the Harbour City to play the Sydney Swans at the SCG for Opening Round on March 5.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dwayne Russell has gone through all 18 AFL forward lines and has ranked his top 10 going into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-464203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}