Welcome to Zero Hanger's top 50 player rankings for 2025 - a list based primarily on a player's 2025 production in addition to their career pedigree and future projections.
The bar is as high as ever to impact as an AFL footballer consistently, let alone to a star level. All-Australian discussions are in constant debate as several guns often find themselves snubbed from proper recognition.
Here is the third edition (30-21) of our top 50 AFL players of 2025...
READ: PART 1 (50-41)
READ: PART 2 (40-31)
23rd - Josh Dunkley
2024 rank: N/A
Dunkley's importance in the Lions' back-to-back premierships is often underrated, but in 2025, AFL fans are beginning to recognise just how valuable he is in his dynamic defensive midfield role.
Whether he's shutting down some of the game's greats as a tagger or doing the dirty work in the heat of the contest, Dunkley has turned Brisbane's engine room into a Lachie Neale-led show to a balanced unit, personally averaging 4.8 clearances and 10.8 contested possessions per game.
His dominance was truly showcased in the 2025 preliminary final against Collingwood, where Dunkley laid an absurd 18 tackles - the most ever in a final.
Dunkley's prime has just begun, which makes the proposition of facing Brisbane a devastating thought for years to come.
