Stats Insider's AFL Player Ratings: Top 10 Midfielders

Goals are great, and so are stopping them at the other end, however the midfield continues to be the fulcrum of where AFL matches and premierships are won. 

Not only have midfielders had a share in the last 30 available Brownlow medals, but our recently released SI AFL Player Ratings reflect the midfield dominance of the modern game, with 11 of the league's very best 16 players all found in that part of the field. 

Speaking of those ratings, let's have a look at just who we're currently determining as the league's ten best midfielders.

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1. PATRICK CRIPPS - CARLTON

KEY STAT: There are currently 20 players in the league who can say they’ve averaged more than 25 disposals per game throughout their career. However only Patrick Cripps can claim to average more than 15 contested disposals per game as well.

2. PATRICK DANGERFIELD - GEELONG 

KEY STAT: St Kilda’s Robert Harvey was crowned All-Australian a record 8 times. Patrick Dangerfield is 29 years old, at the peak of his powers and already has 7 AA guernseys to his name. Does he have double figure AA honours in him?

3. NAT FYFE - FREMANTLE

KEY STAT: There are currently 14 active players averaging better than 8 ground ball gets per game. The average contested marks per game by this group is 0.5. Fyfe averages 1.4 contested marks per game. The man does everything. 

4. DUSTIN MARTIN - RICHMOND

KEY STAT: There is only one active player in the league who averages more than 25 touches and a goal a game. That man is Dustin Martin.

5. LACHIE NEALE - LIONS

KEY STAT: Of the 20 players who can presently boast an average of better than 25 possessions per match, only Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury has a better disposal efficiency (76.5%) than Lachie Neale’s 74.8%.

6. MARCUS BONTEMPELLI - BULLDOGS

KEY STAT: Bontempelli achieved a league-high 18.83 meters gained per disposal last season which was the most in the league among players accumulating at least 600 touches. 

7. JACK MACRAE - BULLDOGS

KEY STAT: Last decade, only four players were good enough to be ranked within the league’s top two for average disposals in consecutive years. The first three were Dane Swan, Gary Ablett Jnr and Tom Mitchell. Four Brownlows between them. Jack Macrae was the fourth. 

8. TIM KELLY - WEST COAST

KEY STAT: Dustin Martin, Patrick Dangerfield and Tim Kelly are the only current players averaging more than 24 touches and a goal a game. Sure Martin and Dangerfield have averaged those numbers over 249 and 225 games respectively, but what Kelly has done in 48 games is absolutely remarkable. 

9. BEN CUNNINGTON - NORTH MELBOURNE

Somehow North Melbourne's brilliant Ben Cunnington has never been crowned as an All-Australian. One of the great contemporary inside mids, the two-time Kangaroos' Best and Fairest winner is ranked 7th among active players averaging 5.7 clearances per game, while he's one of just 11 active players to have collected at least 2,500 contested possessions in their career. At just 28, he's only now in his prime. 

10. ELLIOT YEO - WEST COAST

KEY STAT- Elliot Yeo is one of three players in the league, along with Nat Fyfe and Patrick Dangerfield to have averaged at 360 metres gained per game along with a 1 contested mark over their career. Yeo's is one of the league's most adaptable players.

CHECK OUT OUR BRAND NEW STATS INSIDER AFL PLAYER RATINGS

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