Meet the AFL’s non-rucks who are dominating the craft

Even the best ruckmen of the AFL need a breather sometimes, meaning players who aren't listed as a traditional big man are tasked with duelling the opponent's ruck for hitouts. So, who's the best non-ruckman at the rucking craft when their team needs them to change roles?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Essendon key forward Peter Wright leads the way in 2025. With a ruck shortage at Bomber-land due to season-ending injuries to Sam Draper and Nick Bryan, 'Two-Metre Peter' has been required to step up and fill the void where possible. With a long wingspan and standing at a height of 203cm, Wright's physical strengths have ensured a smooth transition into the rucking arena, winning 51.3% of his 21.0 contests per game. Amongst the 16 non-rucks that qualify for this statistic, Wright is the only one to register a win percentage above 50%.

Wright was one of the best non-ruckmen at winning hitouts last season, too, but averaged just 16.8 contests per game. His ability to maintain his win rate with a higher volume of ruck duels this year has been impressive, ultimately becoming a saving grace for the Bombers in an injury-plagued year.

Veteran Sam Day follows Wright in win percentage, the delisted Sun making an impact for the Lions as they manage a depleted core of tall players. In eight games played this year, Day has competed in 163 ruck contests and won 74 or 45.4%, the third highest rate of his career. While Brisbane threw him a lifeline after losing Joe Daniher to retirement, he's been required in the ruck more regularly than forward, with Oscar McInerney sidelined for nearly half of the year so far. That has resulted in Day averaging a career-high 20.4 ruck contests per game, outdoing his 2014 season average of 17.8.

However, winning a hitout is just half the battle of a ruck contest. The other half is knocking the ball to the advantage of a teammate to gain possession. No other non-ruck has been better at this facet of ruck craft than Jacob van Rooyen this season.

The Demons key forward has rotated in and out of the Melbourne side in 2025, having featured in just eight games with struggles to get opportunities in front of the big sticks. However, when required, he's been much more than a servicable replacement for the AFL's greatest ruckman Max Gawn, hitting the Sherrin to advantage 33.3% of the time. While van Rooyen understandably has one of the lower ruck contests competed in per game with 12.5, he is wildly effective in those contests. In fact, van Rooyen's hitout to advantage rate of 33.3% is not just the best amongst non-rucks, it's the best in the entire league with rucks included too!

Magpies stalwart Daniel McStay is not far off matching van Rooyen, with 30.6% of his ruck contest wins being to advantage, good for sixth in the league and second amongst non-rucks. He's having a career-best year across the board for Collingwood, kicking 1.3 goals per game and winning 28.8% of his ruck contests, by far the best rate of his career. This newfound versatility demonstrates his pivotal place as a part of a team leading the premiership hunt.

For years, Geelong has been known as a team with weak ruck options, but has managed to mask this flaw well in their recent post-season tilts, most notably in 2022. The Cats tend to use key forwards and defenders as rucks in specific circumstances, Tom Hawkins famously dominating in ruck contests inside forward 50 before his retirement. Now, the baton has been passed to Shannon Neale, who is averaging 20.6 ruck contests per game this year, and Sam De Koning, who averages 11.3. Neale bulked up in the off-season and now appears to be more comfortable in the ruck, tapping hitouts to advantage at the fourth-best rate amongst non-rucks at 25.7%, a career-high.

Sam De Koning, on the other hand, began this season as a genuine ruck, though the experiment lasted just three rounds, the Cats main ruckman, Rhys Stanley, eventually being brought back in. Despite averaging 19.7 hitouts per game over those three games, De Koning has rarely featured in ruck contests since, returning to his key role in defence.

Another interesting trend in this list is the forwards who struggle more than others in ruck contests, despite their regularity in featuring in them. Riley Thilthorpe has one of the highest volumes of ruck contests this season, 211 total, and has an impressive win rate of 40.6%. However, just 16.3% of those hitouts are tipped to advantage, the second-lowest in this group, which equates to just one hitout to advantage per game. With the way he's been kicking goals this season, Adelaide fans probably aren't too upset.

Similarly, North Melbourne's veteran recruit Jack Darling has featured in 204 ruck contests this season, serving as backup to the All-Australian hopeful Tristan Xerri. His success rate is even worse than Thilthorpe's, however, getting a hitout in just 36 of those 204 contests, or 17.6%. Only 13.9% of those hitouts are to advantage, too, meaning Darling has recorded just five in 13 games.

The following list features players who are listed in a position other than ruck but compete in at least 10.0 ruck contests per game.