The seventh week of the AFL season saw a number of recruits live up to their pre-season hype as the power rankings begin to take shape.
A new leader has emerged out of the Bulldogs midfield, while three mainstay defenders solidify their positions in the top eight after big weekends.
Who's making the most impact in their new colours? Welcome to the weekly ranking of the Recruit of the Year contenders for 2025, with Round 7 giving us plenty to consider.
Neal-Bullen's consistency in recent weeks has ensured he remains in the top eight of these power rankings, even after a disappointing outing from the Crows over the weekend.
He put together his best performance since Round 1, amassing 19 disposals and 303 metres gained in his role up forward. His presence inside 50 was enormous, tallying a team-high seven score involvements, including an important fourth quarter goal of his own that sparked Adelaide's late surge. It's his fifth game already this season with at least six score involvements, becoming one of the six Crows players to do so thus far.
Neal-Bullen's impact has hardly faltered in the early stages of 2025 and if he's able to hit the scoreboard regularly, the Crows will continue to be thankful for his decision to return home.
Hawthorn's defence once again presented itself as the Hawks' most dangerous feature in their hunt for a first premiership since the three-peat, keeping West Coast to just 19 scoring shots. Tom Barrass featured prominently again, holding Jake Waterman to his lowest score involvements in a game since the Eagles were crushed by Gold Coast in Round 1.
In addition to this, the key defender would lead the match in spoils with four, took three intercept marks and on attack generated three rebound 50s and launched two scoring chains. While far from his best game this season, Barrass' impact was crucial in Hawthorn's cruisy win, remaining a pivotal piece in their top four charge.
Barrass still leads the brown and gold in one-percenters and intercept marks this campaign and with a fleeting Richmond side on the cards, his ability to negate the impact of their forwards could spell a blowout in the making.
Josh Battle makes a boisterous return to the power rankings after displaying his tenacious ball-winning ability and lethal kick from half-back in the Hawks' win over West Coast. It was certainly his best performance since the Hawks knocked off Carlton back in Round 2, season bests in marks with seven, intercept possessions with ten and ground ball gets with six.
Defensively, he was superb, reading the Eagles' inside 50 kicks brilliantly to help limit them to just six marks from 50 entries, notching an equal game-high four spoils. Yet, it was in attack where Battle shined brightest on Sunday, boasting a career-best seven score involvements, four score launches and seven rebound 50s, a mark he's achieved just four times before in his 130-game career.
Perhaps the return to Marvel Stadium, the former Saint's old home, played a role in his domination but no matter how you spin it, Battle's half-back presence has dynamised the Hawks' attack.
Macrae looked back near his best for St Kilda in a hard-fought effort against the reigning premiers, tallying four of the Saints' 12 centre clearances for the game and finishing with eight total from 13 kicks.
The Saints ultimately lost this game at the stoppage but it wasn't without effort from Macrae, who tallied four stoppage clearances and nine contested possessions. The Saints' midfield stood tall with Macrae, Jack Steele and Jack Sinclair also putting in good shifts, but their combination wasn't enough to overcome Lachie Neale and Will Ashcroft in the moments that mattered.
While Macrae falls again in the power rankings this week, this game could have turned out a lot worse for the Saints if it weren't for his impact in the clearance battle, so it's impossible to push him further than down than the single rung.
Gold Coast's elite midfield was well-matched by the Swans on Sunday afternoon, but they found their impact elsewhere. The Suns' second-half turnaround and ultimate obliteration of the Swans was in large part thanks to their men down back, led by none other than John Noble.
Noble continued his fine form with a season-high 30 disposals and was involved in five scores, the majority of which came in the second half, where Gold Coast outscored Sydney 20-2 from defensive half scoring chains. He led the Suns in metres gained too with 584. Unsurprisingly, the Suns continue to produce scores from their defensive half at an elite rate with significant thanks to Noble, as only Brisbane and Carlton transition from defensive 50 to scores more often. Considering that only seven defenders average more than Noble's 4.9 score involvements per game, it's hard to look past just how important his recruitment has been for Hardwick's system.
After a disappointing loss to the Tigers last weekend, a bounce-back performance was much needed and Noble ensured the Suns delivered their fans just that, once again in the conversation for best on field, cementing himself into the top four of the Recruit of the Year Power Rankings.
Fremantle heard the criticism during the week and bounced back in emphatic fashion over the Crows, Shai Bolton consistently finding himself at the end of a Dockers' midfield clearance. Similarly to his electric play against Melbourne last week, Bolton was elite at the drop of the ball, crumbing seven ground balls including three inside 50 which led to his six score involvements and a goal for reward.
Bolton also found himself in the contest regularly, attending almost 50% of centre bounces. It was a strategy that worked well in tandem with Fremantle's dominant inside mids, Bolton amassing 11 contested possessions from his season-high 22 disposals. He also generated five inside 50s, the fourth time he's done so already this season, which is exciting considering he did it just five times throughout all of 2024.
After games like that, it's hard to not reinvest into the Dockers hype and Bolton's influence remains a key part of that.
The Cats superstar has been knocked off his perch after two weeks at the top despite putting together another fantastic ball-winning display in Geelong's poor loss to Carlton on Sunday afternoon.
Smith tallied another 29 disposals and kicked an important goal in Geelong's fourth quarter surge, but ultimately his - and Geelong's as a whole - ineffectiveness with foot skills will haunt him and the Cats as they look back on this game, Smith going at 47% kicking efficiency.
His elite work rate keeps him high in the rankings, however, as his 32 pressure acts - 21 being in the defensive half - and nine tackles played a significant role in keeping Geelong in a game where they very easily could have lost by more. It's hard not to love Smith's improvement in this area of his game, ranking tied-ninth amongst midfielders for one-percenters this season and posting career highs in almost every defensive statistical department.
Kennedy has rightfully earned top spot after another clinic against a contender, displaying his adaptability with Beveridge moving him back to half forward against the Giants.
Kennedy attended just 59% of centre bounces this week, his lowest since Round 1, but his impact was not undermined, raking in 26 disposals, 12 contested possessions and seven clearances in the Bulldogs' 32-point win in Canberra. He also hit the scoreboard in a big way with two goals, giving the Dogs the best of both worlds in his changing role around the ground.
The Dogs find themselves back in the top eight, the potential for finals certainly on their minds with Bontempelii back in the line-up, but it's Kennedy's consistent play in a variety of positions that has arguably helped the Dogs stay on track the most, even while suffering with a heavily depleted playing list.
