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KICK Rating · All-time · forwards

All-time forwards — kick rating leaderboard

The top forwards right now, ranked by rolling 40-game KICK-F. KICK-F rewards marks-inside-50 and goal-assists higher than overall KICK does, then calibrates so the 95th-percentile forward sits at 76 — correcting for the disposal-volume gap that otherwise buries forwards below mids. Raw formula + overall KICK shown for transparency. 229 forwards in the pool, top 100 shown. Ranked by career-average KICK (position-scaled). Players with 100+ games. For the peak-form view see the main Peak-form leaderboard.

See how positional KICK works.

Peak 40 is not "greatest career"

This list ranks forwards by their best 40-game rolling window of KICK-F — the strongest ~1.75-season stretch they ever put together at this position. It's a peak-form metric, not a career-value metric. A player with one elite All-Australian stretch can rank alongside Brownlow-tier names here even if the rest of their career was modest. Longevity, premierships and sustained output aren't weighted — only the peak stretch is.

A composite "greatest career" metric (blending peak + career average + longevity + positional context) is planned for V1.9. Until it ships: for the cross-position peak-form view see the overall Peak-form leaderboard; for era-fair rankings within a decade see the decade leaderboards.

A caveat on pre-2000 forwards

AFL Tables only started tracking rebound-50s, contested marks, one-percenters and the full hit-out split progressively through the 1990s — those fields didn't exist in earlier-era data, so pre-2000 forwards score zero on them whether they did the action or not. The headline KICK formula (designed for modern 17-field box scores) underweights them as a result. Era rebaseline was investigated and held — both approaches tested produced worse top-20 lists. Read older-era forwards on the decade leaderboards where relative era ranking is accurate.

# Player Team GP Peak KICK-F Raw Peak yrs KICK-F career KICK
ref
1 Isaac Heeney 2015-2026 Sydney 230 100 77 2024-26 89 61
2 Matthew Richardson 1993-2009 Richmond 280 93 69 2006-08 88 52
3 Nick Riewoldt 2001-17 St Kilda 330 92 69 2008-10 94 63
4 Tony Lockett 1983-2002 Sydney 281 89 66 1990-92 87 43
5 Malcolm Blight 1974-82 North Melbourne 178 88 65 1980-82 73 39
6 Gary Ablett 1982-96 Geelong 248 88 65 1992-94 91 46
7 Jeremy Cameron 2012-2026 Geelong 287 87 64 2022-23 76 50
8 Jarrad Waite 2003-18 North Melbourne 235 85 63 2010-13 74 51
9 Joe Daniher 2013-24 Brisbane Lions 202 84 62 2023-24 71 48
10 Brendan Fevola 1999-2010 Brisbane Lions 203 84 62 2008-10 73 48
11 Toby Greene 2012-2026 Greater Western Sydney 269 81 60 2016-18 84 58
12 Daniel Bradshaw 1996-2010 Sydney 226 81 59 2006-09 62 41
13 Gary Buckenara 1982-90 Hawthorn 154 80 58 1987-89 75 40
14 Stewart Loewe 1986-2002 St Kilda 321 80 58 1999-2001 80 44
15 Nathan Brown 1997-2009 Richmond 217 79 58 2003-05 75 50
16 Jarryd Roughead 2005-19 Hawthorn 280 79 57 2014-15 79 53
17 Bill Ryan 1963-72 Geelong 167 78 57 1970-71 60 33
18 Brad Green 2000-12 Melbourne 251 78 57 2008-10 68 48
19 Brad Johnson 1994-2010 Western Bulldogs 364 78 57 2005-07 83 53
20 Barry Hall 1996-2011 Western Bulldogs 289 78 57 2005-06 75 48
21 Cyril Rioli 2008-18 Hawthorn 182 78 57 2011-13 78 55
22 Jason Akermanis 1995-2010 Western Bulldogs 325 77 56 2003-05 76 50
23 Matthew Lloyd 1995-2009 Essendon 270 77 56 2000-01 87 53
24 Nicky Winmar 1987-99 Western Bulldogs 251 77 56 1991-93 74 40
25 Ross Glendinning 1978-88 West Coast 230 76 55 1986-88 64 35
26 Alan Didak 2001-13 Collingwood 203 76 55 2009-10 65 47
27 John Murphy 1967-80 North Melbourne 246 76 55 1970-71 85 45
28 George Bisset 1963-74 Collingwood 207 76 55 1968-70 68 37
29 John Birt 1957-67 Essendon 193 76 55 1965-67 35 16
30 Bob Skilton 1956-71 South Melbourne 237 76 55 1966-70 49 24
31 Lance Whitnall 1997-2007 Carlton 214 76 55 1999-2000 76 48
32 Warren Tredrea 1997-2010 Port Adelaide 252 76 55 2003-04 83 54
33 Alastair Lynch 1988-2004 Brisbane Lions 303 76 55 2002-04 57 34
34 Jesse Hogan 2015-2026 Greater Western Sydney 186 75 55 2016-18 75 50
35 Garry Wilson 1971-84 Fitzroy 268 75 54 1976-78 85 45
36 Scott Lucas 1996-2009 Essendon 268 74 54 2005-07 73 48
37 Leon Davis 2000-11 Collingwood 220 74 54 2008-09 59 43
38 Jack Gunston 2010-2026 Hawthorn 285 74 54 2015-16 73 49
39 Charlie Curnow 2016-2026 Sydney 156 73 54 2022-23 75 50
40 Cameron Mooney 1999-2011 Geelong 218 73 53 2007-09 63 43
41 Jason Dunstall 1985-98 Hawthorn 269 73 53 1992-94 90 45
42 Bernie Quinlan 1969-86 Fitzroy 366 73 53 1982-83 71 38
43 Steve Johnson 2002-17 Greater Western Sydney 289 72 53 2012-14 88 59
44 Jonathan Brown 2000-14 Brisbane Lions 253 72 53 2008-10 82 54
45 Travis Cloke 2005-17 Western Bulldogs 251 72 53 2010-12 79 53
46 Matthew Pavlich 2000-16 Fremantle 349 72 53 2007-09 87 59
47 Charlie Dixon 2011-24 Port Adelaide 216 72 53 2017-18 69 48
48 Shai Bolton 2017-2026 Fremantle 170 72 53 2022-24 71 50
49 Peter Wright 2015-2026 Essendon 160 72 53 2021-23 67 46
50 David Clarke 1971-82 Carlton 211 72 53 1971-73 78 41
51 Chad Wingard 2012-23 Hawthorn 209 71 52 2017-19 78 54
52 Brett Burton 1999-2010 Adelaide 174 71 52 2003-05 73 49
53 Rodney Ashman 1973-86 Carlton 236 71 52 1981-82 65 35
54 Leigh Matthews 1969-85 Hawthorn 332 71 52 1977-78 88 45
55 Peter Daicos 1979-93 Collingwood 250 71 52 1990-91 68 37
56 Aaron Naughton 2018-2026 Western Bulldogs 171 70 52 2021-22 67 45
57 Brad Hardie 1985-92 Collingwood 150 70 52 1989-91 64 35
58 Fraser Gehrig 1995-2008 St Kilda 260 70 51 2003-05 62 39
59 Russell Robertson 1997-2009 Melbourne 226 69 51 2002-04 62 42
60 Corey Jones 2001-10 North Melbourne 154 69 51 2005-07 68 48
61 Tom Lynch 2010-21 Adelaide 156 69 51 2016-17 75 52
62 Aaron Hamill 1996-2006 St Kilda 187 69 51 2000-01 69 45
63 Tom Hawkins 2007-24 Geelong 358 69 51 2017-19 75 50
64 Adam Goodes 1999-2015 Sydney 370 68 51 2010-12 84 58
65 Jay Schulz 2004-16 Port Adelaide 176 68 50 2012-14 63 44
66 Daniel Giansiracusa 2001-14 Western Bulldogs 248 67 50 2010-11 73 52
67 Drew Petrie 2001-17 West Coast 328 67 50 2011-12 73 51
68 Tom Papley 2016-2026 Sydney 204 66 49 2022-24 65 46
69 Jeff Farmer 1995-2008 Fremantle 245 66 49 2000-02 56 37
70 Michael OLoughlin 1995-2009 Sydney 302 66 49 2000-01 67 43
71 Stephen Kernahan 1986-97 Carlton 251 66 49 1991-93 82 43
72 Mark LeCras 2005-18 West Coast 216 66 49 2013-15 74 51
73 Tom Lynch 2011-2026 Richmond 239 66 49 2015-17 73 49
74 Tony Modra 1992-2001 Fremantle 165 66 49 1992-94 67 35
75 Darren Jarman 1991-2001 Adelaide 230 66 49 1999-2001 76 42
76 Wayne Carey 1989-2004 Adelaide 271 65 48 1999-2000 88 48
77 Paul Medhurst 2002-10 Collingwood 167 65 48 2007-09 58 40
78 Lance Franklin 2005-23 Sydney 350 64 48 2011-13 88 57
79 Simon Beasley 1982-89 Footscray 154 64 48 1982-84 64 34
80 Rex Hunt 1968-78 St Kilda 202 64 48 1976-78 54 30
81 Angus Monfries 2005-17 Port Adelaide 199 64 48 2011-13 66 47
82 Sam Reid 2010-22 Sydney 175 64 48 2015-19 60 42
83 Nathan Thompson 1998-2008 North Melbourne 176 64 48 2000-02 65 43
84 Brett Ebert 2004-12 Port Adelaide 159 63 47 2006-07 59 41
85 Ron Barassi 1953-69 Carlton 254 63 47 1965-68 27 12
86 Blake Caracella 1997-2006 Collingwood 179 63 47 2000-01 67 45
87 Anthony Rocca 1995-2009 Collingwood 240 63 47 2003-06 65 42
88 Saverio Rocca 1992-2006 Kangaroos 256 62 47 2001-02 66 39
89 Jake Stringer 2013-2026 Greater Western Sydney 228 62 47 2021-23 65 46
90 Mark Maclure 1974-86 Carlton 243 62 46 1978-79 55 30
91 Quinten Lynch 2002-13 Collingwood 226 61 46 2008-10 67 47
92 Jamie Elliott 2012-2026 Collingwood 222 61 46 2014-17 64 45
93 Jack Riewoldt 2007-23 Richmond 345 61 46 2017-18 75 50
94 Greg Parke 1968-77 Fitzroy 171 61 46 1969-71 69 37
95 Doug Wade 1961-75 North Melbourne 267 61 46 1968-70 64 32
96 David Schwarz 1991-2002 Melbourne 173 61 46 1999-2000 66 40
97 David Neitz 1993-2008 Melbourne 302 61 46 2002-04 61 38
98 Tony Morwood 1978-89 Sydney 229 61 46 1986-88 57 31
99 Brian Royal 1983-93 Footscray 199 60 45 1987-88 68 37
100 Robert Walls 1967-80 Fitzroy 259 60 45 1972-73 61 33

Why a separate forwards leaderboard?

KICK Rating's overall leaderboard is award-aligned — Brownlow votes, All-Australian squads, and AFLCA Champion Player selections all heavily favour midfielders, and KICK tracks them. That's the right number when you want "who does everyone agree is the best player going around?".

But if you're looking for the best forwards, that mid-heavy bias is the wrong lens. Positional KICK applies role-aware weight multipliers (intercept marks ×5 for defenders, marks-inside-50 ×2.5 for forwards, hit-outs ×1.4 for rucks) plus a per-position percentile rescale on top of the base formula, so "elite at this position" reads similarly across all four buckets. Every multiplier and anchor is on the positional methodology page — the point isn't "no guesswork", it's transparent guesswork.

Read the validation story →