Stats Insider’s AFL Player Ratings for 2023

After six rounds of AFL action in 2023, Stats Insider’s AFL Player Ratings have been updated. 

Based on a number of key metrics and statistics, we’ve identified who are the best AFL players across the league by position.

There have been some big risers and sliders so far, but plenty of familiar names still sit at the top.

AFL Player Ratings Key Defenders

1. Darcy Moore (COLL)

2. Sam Taylor (GWS)

3. Harris Andrews (BRIS)

4. Steven May (MELB)

5. Tom Barrass (WCE)

Topping the list of our best rated key defenders is Collingwood captain Darcy Moore, who has relished his role as the Magpies skipper. Leading Collingwood’s defensive line with key personnel in Jeremy Howe and Nathan Murphy missing through injury, he has been elite as the backline general.

DARCY MOORE RUNS DOWN OLLIE HENRY IN THE GOAL SQUARE!

THIS GAME IS OFF ITS HEAD 😱#AFLCatsPies | @cryptocom pic.twitter.com/TtQc8UOFIg

— AFL (@AFL) March 17, 2023

After starting the season as one of the best defenders in the AFL GWS’ Sam Taylor unfortunately won’t be able to add to his brilliant campaign for at least the next 10 weeks, as he recovers from a high-grade hamstring injury. But in his six games he’s been the Giants’ best defender by far, averaging 3.8 intercept marks and losing just 5.3% of his defensive contests. At only 23, he has all the attributes to blanket the best key forwards in the league, and will no doubt do so again when he returns.

While Harris Andrews and Steven May have had their down performances for Brisbane and Melbourne respectively, they’ve still been their side’s most reliable defenders. Andrews had a monster day out against the Bulldogs, with 21 disposals and 16 marks, while May dictated play out of defence against the Tigers on Monday with 22 disposals.

With Shannon Hurn missing for the past two weeks, Tom Barrass has stood up for a massively under-fire West Coast backline. He’s averaging 7.5 spoils, 7.2 marks and 3.7 intercept marks per game.

AFL Player Ratings General Defenders

1. Jack Sinclair (STK)

2. Nick Daicos (COLL)

3. Jordan Dawson (ADEL)

4. James Sicily (HAW)

5. Tom Stewart (GEEL)

After earning his maiden All-Australian selection and winning the Trevor Barker Medal as St Kilda’s best and fairest, Jack Sinclair has continued his output as the league’s best rebounding defender. His clinical ball use off half-back has been key to the new look Saints’ run and gun game style, averaging 28.3 disposals and 4.8 rebound 50s at 82.4% disposal efficiency.

In just his second season of AFL footy, Nick Daicos has emerged as one of the best players in the AFL in his second year of footy. Fresh off winning the ANZAC Medal with his second 40+ disposal game in a row, his unmatched workrate and brilliant ball use by both hand and foot has been essential to Collingwood’s success.

Collingwood's Nick Daicos has entered the top 10 of our #AFL player ratings. pic.twitter.com/RpX9wWgoWf

— Stats Insider (@StatsInsider) April 17, 2023

After starting out as a promising defender at Sydney, Adelaide's Jordan Dawson is one of the best players in the AFL. This season, with promising youngsters like Nick Murray and Max Michalanney becoming staples of the backline, the new skipper has joined the midfield rotation, and has taken a leap up in productivity all round.

Rounding out the defenders is Hawthorn captain James Sicily and perennial All-Australian Cat Tom Stewart. They continue to be two of the best intercept markers in the league.

AFL Player Ratings Midfielders

1. Clayton Oliver (MELB)

2. Marcus Bontempelli (WB)

3. Christian Petracca (MELB)

4. Touk Miller (GCS)

5. Lachie Neale (BRIS)

Well and truly entrenched as a Brownlow favourite, Clayton Oliver tops AFL player ratings as the best player in the competition. In his six games so far he’s averaging career highs in disposals (33.5), inside 50s (5.5) and uncontested possessions (18), finding more ball on the outside and being damaging by foot. 

He’s also impacting the scoreboard, having kicked four goals, which in tandem with midfield partner Christian Petracca (five goals in six games), has given the Demons multidimensional scoring avenues. Petracca’s explosiveness combined with Oliver’s innate ability to find and distribute the footy continues to dominate opposition midfields. Add Jack Viney’s grit and defensive pressure, and it’s no surprise there’s two Dees in our top five mids.

How do the #AFL23 ratings compare to ours? Follow the link to see our #AFL    player ratings, based on data-driven analytics: https://t.co/MEqIqQeclG pic.twitter.com/XsYzboBowF

— Stats Insider (@StatsInsider) March 25, 2023

After what he himself admitted as a bit of a down season in 2022, the Western Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli is back to leading his side as one of the best midfielders in the AFL. He is averaging a ludicrous 8.5 clearances, the most in the league, and has put on some breathtaking performances already like his 31 disposal, two goal effort in this weekend’s win over Fremantle.

Gold Coast’s Touk Miller will miss a significant amount of games after tearing his meniscus against North Melbourne. Miller's absence will be felt for the Gold Coast, who had been heavily relying on the on their skipper. Before he went down, his output was well in line with last season. Rounding out the top five is Brisbane’s Lachie Neale, who like Bontempelli, has been a clearance machine. He racked up a massive 13 clearances in Round 5 against the Kangaroos, and has been as consistent as ever despite continuing to cop tags from the opposition.

AFL Player Ratings Ruck

1. Sean Darcy (FREO)

2. Tim English (WB)

3. Max Gawn (MELB)

4. Jarrod Witts (GCS)

5. Brodie Grundy (MELB)

Fremantle ruck Sean Darcy has been the best big man so far in 2023, dominating the key ruck statistics including being number one for hitouts, as well as hitouts to advantage. He’s also winning hitouts at a far and away best 61.2%, with the next best being Hawthorn’s Ned Reeves at 52.3%.

If Darcy is the best true ruckman, then Western Bulldog Tim English has had the most impact around the ground of any starting ruck. We started to see the best of what he could do last season, but this year, along with his 27.1 hitouts, he’s also averaging 20.6 disposals, 10.3 contested possessions, 6.1 marks, 5.1 tackles and four inside 50s.

Sean Darcy: cool, calm, collected 😎#RACDerby | #foreverfreo | 🎥: @AFL pic.twitter.com/ZQgQnPxMII

— Fremantle Dockers (@freodockers) April 2, 2023

Six-time All-Australian Max Gawn missed three games due to injury, but came right back in with the impact that has earned him all his accolades over the years. In his two full games this season, he’s averaged 19 disposals, 19 hitouts, seven marks, 5.5 inside 50s, and has kicked three goals.

The recruitment of Brodie Grundy seemed like a stroke of genius when Gawn went down, giving him licence to resume number one ruck duties and play freely once again. While we did see his impact drop again upon Gawn’s return, with coach Simon Goodwin yet to find the best way to get the most out of the two in tandem, his brilliant stretch has seen him return to the top five for now.

Gold Coast ruck Jarrod Witts currently sits in fourth place, despite also missing a handful of weeks through injury. Long considered one of the best true tap rucks in the competition, he is averaging 35.7 hitouts this season, still ranked third in the comp.

AFL Player Ratings Key Forwards

1. Jeremy Cameron (GEEL)

2. Charlie Curnow (CARL)

3. Taylor Walker (ADEL)

4. Tom Hawkins (GEEL)

5. Tom Lynch (RICH)

On track to kick the highest goal tally in a season in years, Geelong's Jeremy Cameron is the best forward in the AFL and is rising up our AFL ratings overall. He’s currently ranked fifth overall in our Player Rankings, if he continues to average 19 disposals, 4.5 goals and 4.5 inside 50s, the Coleman Medal leader could very well jump up the rankings even more.

Last year’s Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow is looking to back up his 2022 form, with 20 goals to his name after six rounds. This time last season, he had kicked 16 majors, so he could be in for an even better total. He’s already booted a bag of five and six, and is going to be dominating opposition defences again with his brilliant aerial contest work.

Curnow to Curnow, Charlie has six!#AFLNorthBlues pic.twitter.com/8l6eweYK4t

— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2023

Taylor Walker and Tom Hawkins both seem to keep getting better with age, both getting on the scoreboard consistently and setting up their teammates. Walker has had to take on a more selfless role as his emerging teammates in Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe continue to develop, but has still managed 14 goals so far. Hawkins has been the goal assist king in recent years, and is once again in the top three in the competition for the statistic.

Richmond's Tom Lynch to slide down this list as he’ll be out for the long term after fracturing his foot at the start of April. But after averaging the highest goals per game in the league last season, kicking 63 goals in 19 goals, his back to back bags of three to start 2023 still has our Player Ratings holding him the Tigers spearhead in high regard.

AFL Player Ratings General Forwards

1. Shai Bolton (RICH)

2. Toby Greene (GWS)

3. Isaac Heeney (SYD)

4. Charlie Cameron (BRIS)

5. Jake Stringer (ESS)

Despite the Tigers’ struggles so far in 2023, Shai Bolton is at the top of our AFL Player Ratings for small forwards, ranked 12th overall. Many thought his midfield impact would go down with the additions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, but instead his disposal average has gone up from 17.5 to 19 per game. He’s playing an important linking role between the midfield and forward lines, currently averaging 5.3 inside 50s per game.

GWS captain Toby Greene is on track for the greatest scoring output of his career, with 16 goals in his six games so far. He’s only averaged over 17.5 disposals once in the past six seasons, so he looks to be back to his best both as a midfielder and forward.

Greene boots a captains goal to bring the Giants back within a kick 😤#GatherRound #AFLGiantsHawks pic.twitter.com/7sirBxDP9t

— AFL (@AFL) April 16, 2023

Fresh off a career-high 49 goals last season, Sydney’s Isaac Heeney is currently rated third overall for general forwards with our AFL Player Ratings. Always renowned for his high-flying marking ability, he’s averaging a career high 1.17 contested marks and 1.33 marks inside 50, and has kicked seven goals so far.

Another player who’s on track to have a career-best year in front of the sticks, Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron has kicked 20 goals in just six rounds, which has him currently sitting third in the Coleman Medal tally. He’s hit some incredible form in the past three weeks, kicking 17 goals in three big wins.

While Essendon's Jake Stringer started the season slowly, missing the Bombers’ first two games as he built back to full fitness, he exploded back into his best form with four goals to lead his side to victory over the Giants. Despite his inconsistency, Stringer has always been an impact player, but he’ll need to keep producing big scores and start getting more rotation through the midfield if he wants to keep his spot in the top five.

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)