The top 50 AFL players of 2025: 40-31 (Part 2)

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 second edition (40-31) of our top 50 AFL players right now... READ: PART 1 (50-41) 40th - Luke Jackson [caption id="attachment_160460" align="alignnone" width="2560"] PERTH, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 06: Luke Jackson of the Dockers celebrates a goal during the 2025 AFL Round 04 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium on April 6, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/AFL Photos via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: N/A Luke Jackson has been on the precipice of a breakout campaign for several seasons, and it finally arrived in full form in 2025, averaging career-best numbers across the board with 17.8 disposals, 3.4 clearances and 6.0 score involvements per game. His athleticism makes him one of the most dangerous ruck-forward threats in the competition, and with the new ruck duel rules set to be introduced in 2026, he's likely to be even more dominant in those contests. Fremantle's budding young core is expected to take a leap again next year, and the premiership pedigree of Jackson will undoubtedly help them take that jump. 39th - Lachie Neale [caption id="attachment_169102" align="alignnone" width="2560"] MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Lachie Neale of the Lions runs onto the field during the AFL Grand Final match between Geelong Cats and Brisbane Lions at Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 27, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: 2 Lachie Neale's slide seems significant, but it's largely due to the improvements of the Lions around him in the club's successful premiership defence. Neale, while still elite in many measures, is no longer tasked with being the sole leader of Brisbane's engine room. Between 2022 and 2024, Neale led the Lions in clearances by over two per game and only once had two teammates average at least 10 contested possessions in the same season as him, highlighting Brisbane's reliance on Neale to win their midfield battles. In 2025, however, he's received major assistance from Hugh McCluggage, Will Ashcroft and Josh Dunkley, who all average at least 5.0 clearances and 10.5 contested possessions per game. While Neale's possession and clearance winning abilities were as low as they've been since 2021, his super-sub grand final performance will go down in history, recording 17 disposals, seven score involvements, seven clearances and a goal in just 44% time on ground. It was a superhuman effort from the dual Brownlow medallist, demonstrating the kind of play he still offers the Lions at 32 years old and will undoubtedly bring to the table as they hunt for a three-peat in 2026. 38th - Aaron Naughton [caption id="attachment_150265" align="alignnone" width="2560"] MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 29: Aaron Naughton of the Bulldogs evades a tackle during the round seven AFL match between Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn Hawks at Marvel Stadium, on April 29, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: N/A Aaron Naughton took his goalkicking game to new heights in 2025, booting a career-high 60 goals in 23 matches, which included five hauls of five or more goals. Naughton's dominance inside forward 50 wasn't instant this year, opening the season with just five goals from four games, including a three-week patch between Rounds 2 and 4 where he managed just five shots at goal. However, in the 19 games that followed, Naughton kicked multiple goals 14 times and, between Rounds 16 and 24, kicked fewer than three goals just twice (two goals vs Brisbane and Fremantle). The Bulldogs' attack was historic in 2025, becoming the first club since Adelaide in 2016 to kick an average of 16 goals per game, and Naughton's monstrous efforts played a major factor in that. 37th - Brodie Grundy [caption id="attachment_160433" align="alignnone" width="2560"] MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 05: Brodie Grundy of the Swans runs with the ball during the round four AFL match between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium, on April 05, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: N/A The revival of Brodie Grundy was something to behold in 2025 as he captivated not only Swans fans with his deft taps and impressive ball-winning ability, but fans across the league with his loveable personality and positive demeanour. Looking at his skillset in a purely on-field sense, however, Grundy's return to one of the game's best ruckmen played a vital role in Sydney's late-season charge toward September. Grundy was one of just six ruckmen to average 35 hitouts per game in 2025, and among all listed AFL rucks, only Grundy and Gold Coast's Jarrod Witts won at least 50% of their ruck contests (minimum 10 games played). Grundy achieved remarkable feats in 2025, from his 62 hitout performance vs North Melbourne in Round 19 to his 39-disposal, 22-contested possession and nine-score involvement performance against Essendon in Round 9. His surprise resurgence is something the Swans faithful will hope to see repeated in 2026 as the Bloods aim for a return to September with a fully healthy squad. 36th - Connor Rozee [caption id="attachment_149287" align="alignnone" width="2560"] ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 05: Connor Rozee (left) and Jeremy Finlayson of the Power celebrate during the 2024 AFL Round 04 match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Essendon Bombers at Adelaide Oval on April 05, 2024 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: 49 Connor Rozee found himself more regularly off half-back in 2025, and he thrived there, becoming one of Port Adelaide's leaders in disposals (27.4 per game, career-high) and metres gained (522.9 per game, career-high). It helped him set up a bounce-back campaign following a slight down year in 2024, with his versatility as a midfielder as well as his ability to command off half-back demonstrating why he has quickly become one of the AFL's more consistent players - and why the Power named him captain in late 2023. 35th - Jamie Elliott [caption id="attachment_168166" align="alignnone" width="2560"] ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 04: Lachie Schultz (left) and Jamie Elliott of the Magpies celebrate during the AFL First Qualifying Final match between the Adelaide Crows and the Collingwood Magpies at Adelaide Oval on September 04, 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: N/A Jamie Elliott was the key force inside forward 50 for Collingwood in 2025, kicking a career-high 60 goals for a rejuvenated Magpies side that returned to the top four after missing finals in 2024. Elliott is truly Collingwood's greatest X-factor asset; an ultimate match-winner that has defied adversity and overcome countless injury battles to continuously assert himself as a game-breaking talent. At 33 years old, Elliott's athleticism hardly seems to be slowing down, so barring any more injury concerns of significance, he'll remain pivotal to Collingwood's premiership chances in 2026. 34th - Dayne Zorko [caption id="attachment_162310" align="alignnone" width="2560"] BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 29: Dayne Zorko of the Lions kicks during the round three AFL match between Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats at The Gabba, on March 29, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: 43 Zorko's mid-thirties revitalisation continues to be a marvelling football story, as the now 36-year-old once again played an integral part in Brisbane's successful premiership defence. Only three players averaged more metres gained per game than Zorko in 2025, and all of them were midfielders. Zorko's lethal kick sets up the Lions' transition seamlessly, allowing him to average 6.4 rebound 50s and 5.6 score involvements per game. Those figures rank second among listed defenders, excluding Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who transitioned to a more permanent midfield role in the final two months of the season. 33rd - Bailey Dale [caption id="attachment_165667" align="alignnone" width="2560"] CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 26: Bailey Dale of the Bulldogs breaks the tackle of Jake Riccardi of the Giants during the round seven AFL match between GWS Giants and Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval, on April 26, 2025, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: N/A Dale continued to star in his 11th season at the Bulldogs since being drafted in 2014, averaging a career-high 27.0 disposals per game at an incredible 81.4 per cent efficiency, deservedly finding himself as the latest new entry inside our top 50. The 29-year-old has emerged as one of the AFL's most damaging players off half-back, ranking eighth in the league for metres gained (545.2 per game), and made history with a 49-disposal, 1016 metres gained effort against Essendon in Round 10 this year. Dale was one of the three defenders to average at least two score launches per game, but also proved his ability to impact the Dogs' attack further down the ground, with his 5.5 score involvements per game leading all listed defenders this year. 32nd - Tristan Xerri [caption id="attachment_163798" align="alignnone" width="2560"] MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 23: Luke Jackson of the Dockers and Tristan Xerri of the Kangaroos compete in a ruck contest during the 2024 AFL Round 2 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Fremantle Dockers on March 23, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: 39 While Xerri's season was disrupted by an untimely suspension, and his late-season form dipped following his return, it's hard to say there's a better ruck in the competition aside from Melbourne's Max Gawn. Xerri's follow-up work is second to none, laying the most tackles by a ruckman by some way, whilst also leading the clearances among the competition's big men. His impressive ground-ball rate sets him apart from the others in the league, and he was assertive with his hitouts to advantage, helping set up North Melbourne's strong clearance game. Should North Melbourne finally ascend out of the league's basement in 2026, there's a good chance Xerri finally acquires that inaugural All-Australian blazer and potentially cracks the top 20 on our list in 12 months time. 31st - Jai Newcombe [caption id="attachment_168429" align="alignnone" width="2560"] ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 12: Jai Newcombe of the Hawks celebrates a goal during the AFL First Semi Final match between the Adelaide Crows and the Hawthorn Hawks at Adelaide Oval on September 12, 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)[/caption] 2024 rank: 29 Newcombe had a September to remember in an individual sense, recording some of the highest-rated finals performances in recent memory. It backed up a career-year for the 24-year-old, averaging 22.4 disposals, 5.9 clearances, 5.9 score involvements and 5.1 tackles per game. Hawthorn's midfield has taken a hit this off-season with the departure of James Worpel and failed trade attempt for Zach Merrett, but Newcombe's form in the middle should hold the Hawks in good stead, both offensively and defensively.

The top 50 AFL players of 2025: 40-31 (Part 2)

Ranking the league’s best talents from the year gone by 👇

READ: PART 1 (50-41)

31st - Jai Newcombe

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		P	W	L	PTS	%
1	ADEL	23	18	5	72	139.3
2	GEEL	23	17	6	68	141.5
3	BL	23	16	6	66	114.2
4	COLL	23	16	7	64	122.4
5	GWS	23	16	7	64	115.3
6	FRE	23	16	7	64	109
7	GC	23	15	8	60	124.9
8	HAW	23	15	8	60	120.9