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)
39th - Lachie Neale
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.
