Rowan Marshall scored a perfect KICK 100 in Round 19 — and not a marginal one.

His raw KICK Game Score was 116.1: the second-biggest single game of the 2026 season, a tenth of a point ahead of Isaac Heeney’s Round 12 116.0 and behind only Brodie Grundy’s 119.9. St Kilda’s ruck had 33 disposals, 30 hit-outs, 12 clearances and two goals against Geelong at Kardinia Park — and still lost by 27. It was the biggest KICK score anyone has posted in a defeat all year, and it landed the week after Round 18 produced no perfect 100 at all. The ceiling didn’t just come back; it came back louder than it had been since Round 10.

A quick refresher: KICK Rating is our open, reproducible player rating — one score out of 100 for every player in every game, computed from the public box score, formula published, code public. A game score of 70 means a quality senior contribution. 85+ puts a player in All-Australian territory. A perfect 100 is the ceiling — once-a-season form. The full methodology is on the site, including where v1 falls short.

Round 19 — 16 to 19 Jul 2026

Nine games, no byes. Hawthorn’s 122-52 dismantling of Richmond at the MCG was the biggest margin of the round — 70 points, with Mitch Lewis and Nick Watson each kicking five. Fremantle won by 28 in Adelaide, Geelong beat St Kilda by 27 at Kardinia Park (the game Marshall lit up), Brisbane won by 24 in Perth, Adelaide beat Sydney by 16 at the SCG, Melbourne beat North Melbourne by 16, and Collingwood accounted for Carlton by 21 at the MCG. The close ones came on Sunday: the Bulldogs held off Gold Coast by 9, and Essendon edged Greater Western Sydney by 3 in the match of the round.

Marshall aside, the top ten had a familiar look — heavy on midfielders and ruckmen, several of them in beaten sides. Tom Sparrow (94, from 33 disposals for Melbourne) was the best of the rest. Joe Richards (89) and Patrick Cripps (85, 30 disposals) both starred in defeats, and Gold Coast’s Touk Miller (84, a game-high 39 disposals) and Matt Rowell (83) went down swinging against the Dogs. Darcy Cameron (84, 39 hit-outs) kept the ruck theme going from Round 18. Marshall’s was the sixth perfect 100 to come in a loss this season — the others three from Tristan Xerri, one from Harry Sheezel, one from Rowell — and at 116.1 raw, comfortably the biggest of them.

  1. 100
    Rowan Marshall St Kilda · lost to Geelong by 27 33 disposals · 2 goals · 2 tackles · 12 clearances
  2. 94
    Tom Sparrow Melbourne · beat North Melbourne by 16 33 disposals · 1 goal · 6 tackles · 10 clearances
  3. 89
    Joe Richards Port Adelaide · lost to Fremantle by 28 31 disposals · 1 goal · 8 tackles · 6 clearances
  4. 85
    Patrick Cripps Carlton · lost to Collingwood by 21 30 disposals · 2 goals · 6 tackles · 6 clearances
  5. 84
    Touk Miller Gold Coast · lost to Western Bulldogs by 9 39 disposals · 5 tackles · 9 clearances · 5 marks
Match of the round
Essendon 67 vs 64 Greater Western Sydney
Full recap →

The season tally — 20 weeks in

The 100 Club grew for the first time in a fortnight — Marshall’s is the 21st perfect game of the season, from the 14th different player, and it drops straight in at number two on the raw-score list. At the top of the season-average table, Bailey Smith kept the lead — and, with the chasers slipping further, stretched it.

The 100 Club (perfect KICK 100 games, 2026 season)

Bars show raw KICK Game Score; every game here displayed as a perfect 100. The dashed line marks the raw ceiling of 100 — bars reaching it cleared 100 outright, the shortest rounded up to it.

  1. R10
    Brodie Grundy Sydney · W vs Collingwood 119.9
  2. R19
    Rowan Marshall St Kilda · L vs Geelong 116.1
  3. R12
    Isaac Heeney Sydney · W vs Richmond 116.0
  4. R2
    Tristan Xerri North Melbourne · L vs West Coast 115.3
  5. R8
    Tristan Xerri North Melbourne · L vs Geelong 115.1
  6. R5
    Isaac Heeney Sydney · W vs Gold Coast 114.7
  7. R16
    Zak Butters Port Adelaide · W vs Adelaide 113.5
  8. R14
    Jordan Dawson Adelaide · W vs Western Bulldogs 112.1
  9. R15
    Luke Jackson Fremantle · W vs Geelong 110.6
  10. R10
    Bailey Smith Geelong · W vs Brisbane Lions 109.0
  11. R7
    Tristan Xerri North Melbourne · L vs Greater Western Sydney 107.5
  12. R6
    Bailey Smith Geelong · W vs Western Bulldogs 106.0
  13. R3
    Bailey Smith Geelong · W vs Adelaide 104.4
  14. R16
    Harry Sheezel North Melbourne · W vs Essendon 103.8
  15. R1
    Marcus Bontempelli Western Bulldogs · W vs Greater Western Sydney 101.7
  16. R11
    Matt Rowell Gold Coast · L vs North Melbourne 101.6
  17. R10
    Harley Reid West Coast · W vs Greater Western Sydney 101.6
  18. R17
    Harry Sheezel North Melbourne · L vs Port Adelaide 101.2
  19. R8
    Sam Berry Adelaide · W vs Port Adelaide 100.4
  20. R15
    Nick Daicos Collingwood · W vs Port Adelaide 99.9
  21. R16
    Nick Daicos Collingwood · W vs Richmond 99.7

Most top-five appearances across the 20 weeks

Bailey Smith leads on 7, Max Gawn next on 6, then Lachie Neale and Marcus Bontempelli on 5. Luke Jackson, Tristan Xerri, Harry Sheezel and Nick Daicos are tied on 4 — none of Round 19’s top five had made the list before.

Most 90+ KICK games

Bailey Smith has 6. Marcus Bontempelli, Tristan Xerri, Nick Daicos and Harry Sheezel are next on 4.

Top season averages, three games minimum

#PlayerTeamSeason avgGames
1Bailey SmithGeelong
82.0
17
2Nick DaicosCollingwood
79.8
17
3Max GawnMelbourne
79.6
18
4Marcus BontempelliWestern Bulldogs
76.7
18
5Isaac HeeneySydney
76.2
16
6Harry SheezelNorth Melbourne
75.5
18
7Jordan DawsonAdelaide
74.9
15

Bailey Smith stayed on top at 82.0 without playing a top-ten game — none of the top three did this week. Behind him, Nick Daicos (79.8) and Max Gawn (79.6) are level to two-tenths of a point, locked in a straight fight for second while Smith sits a little over two points clear. The top three have daylight to the rest: Marcus Bontempelli (76.7) is the best of the others, just under three points off Gawn in third, and nobody below him is closer. Four rounds to play.

Another round-up next Tuesday after Round 20. One match of the round, one season tally refresh, same format. If you want the current form at any time, the live leaderboard re-ranks after every build.

As always: formula here, failures published too, code open-source, no paywall. The current shipped version is v1.1; v1.2–1.4 were held after sweeps (results in the methodology page), and the AFLCA-aligned view lives as its own lens — Coaches’ Eye ranks players by coach votes scaled within position. If you think the rating is wrong, tell us or check Positional KICK for the within-position view.

See you after Round 20.