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Opinion
It’s that time again. With the 2023 AFL season just a month away, it means The Roar’s annual countdown of the Top 50 players in the AFL is back underway.
We haven’t done a list like this since 2020, so here’s how it works in case you’ve forgotten: five of our AFL experts here at The Roar have put our heads together and listed our top 50 players each. Then, points were awarded based on how high they ranked on each expert’s list.
Said points were then tallied to give you our definitive top 50 for season 2020.
We’ll be revealing the top 50 in groups of 10, starting from today with 50-41 and ending on Friday with the top ten.
Who makes the cut… and who misses the list? Let’s find out.
Melbourne | Midfielder/Defender
The only player with a sibling ranked higher than him on the list – minor spoiler alert, I guess – the Melbourne Brayshaw kicks off the top 50.
Brayshaw was an unsung hero of the Demons’ premiership run in 2021, but after spending that year as a defensive winger, switched to intercept defender-cum-inside midfielder with huge success.
I personally had Brayshaw ranked 45th – he doesn’t shine as brightly as some of his teammates in the stacked Demons’ midfield (more on them later in the week), but he’s a consummate workhorse who deserves all the plaudits he gets.
Just don’t tell his younger brother.
Adelaide Crows | Defender
A superb kick, and perhaps even better in South Australia than he was at Sydney, Dawson’s inclusion in the list isn’t a surprise.
His move to the Crows has worked splendidly, and not just because he booted the matchwinner in a Showdown. Dawson ended last year averaging 24 disposals from half-back, impressing his new club to the point that he has taken over from Rory Sloane as captain for 2023.
Despite this, I didn’t have Dawson in my top 50, but he was rated highly by the other contributors, fitting into the low to mid-thirties across the board.
Western Bulldogs | Midfielder
If this was a top 50 based on number of Instagram followers, Smith would be comfortably first on this list.
To be honest, though, I’m surprised Smith has made it to number 48. Evidently, that makes me an outlier: between his online popularity and the fact three of my fellow contributors ranked him in their top 50s, ‘Bazlenka’ has become a ubiquitous part of the sport – and not just for his good looks.
His talent is evident – just quietly, he ranked ninth in the league for average disposals last year – and Smith’s star is only going to shine brighter now that he is expected to take on a larger load in the Doggies’ midfield after they traded Josh Dunkley and Lachie Hunter.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Western Bulldogs | Forward
Naughton has always been a confounding player for me.
His talent is there – he’s very, very good – but he’s never stood out for me as anything truly special. But even I can admit it’s a testament to his efforts at the Dogs that he has landed at number 47 on this list at just 23 years old.
Naughton is coming off his best season yet in terms of goals, with 51 majors in a side that just scraped into finals not something to ignore. Ranked 44th by one voter and 21st for another – and not included by me – the Bulldogs spearhead was one of the more divisive players in this list.
Sydney Swans | Forward
Like Naughton and Smith above, Papley’s inclusion on this list comes from him enthralling just two of our voters enough to consider him among the competition’s top 50.
I was not one of them, though I’m not blind to his talent. In a young Swans side on the rise, the former plumber has been a perpetual menace in attack since his debut in 2016, kicking 32 goals and used in stints on the ball.
Papley is now a Swan for life after signing a long-term contract, and is only going to get better, especially as he keeps learning from the best in the business (see: the player ranked 45th).
Sydney Swans | Forward
Franklin’s brilliance is almost impossible to understate.
Nine years on from his move to the Swans from Hawthorn, ‘Buddy’ has lost some of his prestige. I’d still argue that, by kicking his 1000th goal in Round 2 last year, the 36-year old provided a reminder that he remains almost peerless among the game’s tall forwards – and he is arguably still a bona fide superstar heading into his 19th season.
However, Franklin’s appearance on this list is almost certainly boosted by my personal high opinion of him – I placed him 13th , feeling his historical allure was too powerful to ignore. Only one of my colleagues thought the same.
Geelong Cats | Forward
Stengle’s career reinvigoration at Geelong was comfortably one of the top footy stories of 2022.
From a scandalous period in South Australia that saw him sacked by Adelaide, to becoming a core component of Geelong’s premiership team, Stengle’s remarkable breakout season was duly noticed, landing him here among some genuine superstars of the game.
I had him highest – at 29th – with the goalsneak’s 53 majors last year ranking him just behind Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron as the most potent small forward in the competition.
Richmond | Midfielder
Martin, both on and off the field, has always been an enormous talking point for footy fans.
Case in point, this very list: just two of us felt he was worth a rating inside the top 50, and just one – me – had him in the top 20 still.
Nevertheless, it’s Martin’s phenomenal CV that naturally propels him into the top echelon in my eyes. Richmond surely could not have achieved their recent spate of premierships without him, and even now he looms as having a huge say in whether they secure a fourth flag in 2023.
It’s the individual efforts that have Martin sitting among the best the game as seen: he’s without question one of the
greatest big-game players in history, with his unmatched three Norm Smith Medals all the proof you need to back this up.
(Photo by Scott Barbour/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Fremantle | Midfielder
Just like his fellow nominees in Martin and Franklin, Fyfe has evidently lost a little of his
lustre in recent seasons.
He simply has not been the same player he was in his Brownlow years of 2015 and 2019, and last year officially ceded control of the Fremantle midfield to their bevy of young stars.
But Fyfe’s pure pedigree deserves respect, hence his presence on this list. At his best, the veteran is one of the modern greats; insanely good in the clinches and with a seemingly unbreakable force of will.
I still have memories of a rainy Adelaide Oval night in 2015, watching him and Patrick Dangerfield go at it. Pure football magic.
Injuries, though, appear to be his kryptonite. A frustratingly regular one – but perhaps a rumoured move to the forward line in 2023 can see Fyfe become a match-winner once again.
West Coast Eagles | Defender
Perhaps by virtue of the Eagles’ rough last few years, Barrass remains perennially underrated by much of the footballing world – or, more likely, a lot of people outside Australia’s west simply don’t know how to read him.
This list is no different: one of our experts rated him as high as 11th; two – including me – rated him in the thirties; and two neglected to include him at all.
Barrass is at his best under pressure, often playing a lone hand in an Eagles defence that was regularly under siege in 2022; he has well and truly taken over from Jeremy McGovern as the club’s premier intercept marker, too.
50. Angus Brayshaw
49. Jordan Dawson
48. Bailey Smith
47. Aaron Naughton
46. Tom Papley
45. Lance Franklin
44. Tyson Stengle
43. Dustin Martin
42. Nat Fyfe
41. Tom Barrass
Check back in on Tuesday to find out who we picked from 31-40!
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