Long gone are the days of the commanding key forwards like Tony Lockett or Jason Dunstall, who were goalkicking legends in their own right.
The 2025 iteration of Australian Rules Football demands a different set of skills, but all are predominantly revolved around elite decision making moving at fast paces.
Enter the small forwards.
Yes, there has been a bevy of stars that have played this role before, single-handedly wreaking havoc on opposition clubs with immense pressure and astounding crumbling skills that left you jaw scraping the pavement.
We were blessed to witness Cyril Rioli and Eddie Betts this century, while others have attempted to follow.
But the modern game has seen successful clubs invest in a versatile bunch of not-so-tall forwards that are taking the AFL world by storm.
Brisbane boasted the likes of Charlie Cameron, Zac Bailey, Cam Rayner, Callum Ah Chee and Kai Lohmann in their premiership year. Collingwood included Bobby Hill, Beau McCreery, Jamie Elliott, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Jack Ginnivan in their 2023 premiership. Geelong, the year before, had the likes of Tyson Stengle, Gryan Miers, Gary Rohan and Brad Close.
Hawthorn has improved their small forward cohort in the past 18 months, welcoming Nick Watson and Ginnivan to the club, alongside Dylan Moore, Connor MacDonald and veteran Luke Breust.
Port Adelaide has altered its crumbing types, but invested heavily into bringing Joe Richards (Collingwood) and Joe Berry (2024 National Draft) to Alberton to feature alongside Willie Rioli, Darcy Byrne-Jones and Sam Powell-Pepper.
GWS' 'Orange Tsunami' revolves heavily around its fleet-of-foot forwards like Brent Daniels, Harvey Thomas, Darcy Jones and Toby Bedford to bounce from defence into attack in quick succession.
Richmond's dynasty, led by Damien Hardwick from 2017 to 2020, led the evolution of the game to what it is now, maximising the use of pressure forwards and speedy players to create chaos that defensive systems despise.
In 2025, 12 of the top 30 goalkickers in the competition are deemed to be small to medium-sized forwards, led by St Kilda's Jack Higgins.
The goalsneak has always had a knack of finding the big sticks, but never surpassing 36 majors in any given year. Higgins currently ranks second in the Coleman Medal race with 28 goals at Round 10.
Collingwood veteran Elliott is benefitting from the club's sharper and more daring ball movement, slotting 23 goals to date, which included a six-goal haul against Fremantle.
Pressure forwards Ben Long (19) and Rhylee West (18) continue to toil away at the team-first stuff such as tackles and chases, but have seen reward going the other way.
North Melbourne's Paul Curtis was arguably in All-Australian form prior to his three-week suspension, averaging 2.6 goals per game.
The modern-day prototype of a small forward has long developed from strictly sitting under the key talls, hoping to get a piece of action that falls their way.
Whilst many are known to dominate the ground, players like Elliott, West, Watson and Long are creating contests aerially, making it near-impossible to defend.
And more often than not, coaches are opting to put their versatile forwards one-out inside 50, making it a scary place for a defender.
