{"id":480274,"date":"2026-02-14T21:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480274\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T21:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:23:11","slug":"kane-cornes-top-50-afl-players-new-faces-make-mark-in-30-11-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480274\/","title":{"rendered":"Kane Cornes\u2019 top-50 AFL players: New faces make mark in 30-11 reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell and electric Melbourne<\/a> forward-mid Kysaiah Pickett have charged into Kane Cornes\u2019 top-50 AFL players list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rowell and Pickett were nowhere to be seen in the Channel 7 expert\u2019s top-50 players last year<\/a> but, on the back of exceptional seasons, have landed at No.11 and 12 respectively.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Kane Cornes to reveal top-10 players, Monday and Tuesday, on 7NEWS.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Rowell capped off his All-Australian year with a Brownlow Medal and a Suns best-and-fairest award. The dynamic Pickett was also a first-time All-Australian in 2025 and third in Melbourne\u2019s B&F.<\/p>\n

It is a similar story with hulking forward Riley Thilthorpe, who is on the list for the first time, coming in at 16, after a maiden All-Australian blazer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThilthorpe and (Bulldogs forward) Sam Darcy are the kind of players you\u2019d hand pick to build a team around,\u201d Cornes told 7NEWS.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Thilthorpe) is a big contested mark and he\u2019s coming into his absolute prime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he had a stronger final series last year, I might have had him even higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Adelaide can build a team around him in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the list isn\u2019t just about emerging superstars, with veteran Hawk Jack Gunston recognised as well after sensationally winding back the clock in 2025.<\/p>\n

Gunston, 34, comes in at 27, following on from Cornes\u2019 nod to feisty 37-year-old Dayne Zorko, who landed at 47 following his exceptional 2025 off half-back<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Zorko\u2019s highly decorated teammate Lachie Neale was a notable slider after his tumultuous summer, dropping from No.7 last year to 30 this year.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Neale\u2019s slide) is probably due to a bit of injury and a bit of age,\u201d Cornes told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just wasn\u2019t able to reach the heights that he\u2019s been able to get to previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis best moments are still very good but I think last year he just wasn\u2019t as good as what he\u2019s been previously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney star Chad Warner has also fallen out of the top 10 after failing to live up to his 2024 heroics.<\/p>\n

Cornes had Warner at 10 last year, but this year he\u2019s slipped to 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cChad Warner\u2019s probably a bit similar to Horne-Francis (who has dropped from 20 to 39<\/a>),\u201d Cornes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just wasn\u2019t as strong as he was in 2024 and (like Horne-Francis) it\u2019s a bit because of the way the Swans use him (mixing it between the midfield and forward line).<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Chad\u2019s still a great player and I\u2019m confident he\u2019s going to be back in the top 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love the way he plays and any club would pay good money to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kane\u2019s top-50 AFL players: 30-11<\/p>\n

30. Lachie Neale<\/p>\n

29. Nick Blakey<\/p>\n

28. Zach Merrett<\/p>\n

27. Jack Gunston<\/p>\n

26. Hayden Young<\/p>\n

25. Jai Newcombe<\/p>\n

24. Nick Larkey<\/p>\n

23. Chad Warner<\/p>\n

22. Finn Callaghan<\/p>\n

21. Izak Rankine<\/p>\n

20. Max Holmes<\/p>\n

19. Jordan Dawson<\/p>\n

18. Sam Taylor<\/p>\n

17. Caleb Serong<\/p>\n

16. Riley Thilthorpe<\/p>\n

15. Errol Gulden<\/p>\n

14. Max Gawn<\/p>\n

13. Ed Richards<\/p>\n

12. Kysaiah Pickett<\/p>\n

11. Matt Rowell<\/p>\n

Click here to see Kane\u2019s 2025 top-50 players<\/a><\/p>\n

AFL expert Kane Cornes will reveal his top-10 players, Monday and Tuesday, on the 6pm 7NEWS.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bailey Smith cops reality check in Kane Cornes\u2019 top-50 players<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

AFL club rocked by shattering \u2018incident\u2019 to gun midfielder<\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell and electric Melbourne forward-mid Kysaiah Pickett have charged into Kane Cornes\u2019 top-50 AFL players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,1625,3863,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-480274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-lifestyle","14":"tag-sponsored-content","15":"tag-sport","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480274","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=480274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}