TheKicker
KICK Rating · Current · defenders

Current defenders — kick rating leaderboard

The top defenders right now, ranked by rolling 40-game KICK-D. KICK-D lifts intercept marks, one-percenters and rebounds to what their real impact justifies, then calibrates so the 95th-percentile defender sits at 76 regardless of the raw volume gap with mids and rucks. Raw formula value + overall KICK shown for transparency. 131 defenders in the pool, top 100 shown. Active players (current-season appearance), rolling 40-game average.

See how positional KICK works.

# Player Team GP KICK-D R40 Raw KICK-D career KICK
ref
1 Callum Wilkie 2019-2026 St Kilda 166 96 68 86 45
2 Tom Stewart 2017-2026 Geelong 194 94 67 100 53
3 James Sicily 2015-2026 Hawthorn 190 94 67 99 53
4 Jordan Ridley 2018-2026 Essendon 99 93 66 93 48
5 Luke Ryan 2017-2026 Fremantle 190 90 64 97 52
6 Mason Redman 2016-2026 Essendon 145 86 62 79 45
7 Josh Worrell 2021-2026 Adelaide 65 85 61 85 46
8 Harris Andrews 2015-2026 Brisbane Lions 247 84 61 87 41
9 Nick Vlastuin 2013-2026 Richmond 259 81 58 84 45
10 Sam Taylor 2018-2026 Greater Western Sydney 129 81 58 83 40
11 Jeremy Howe 2011-2026 Collingwood 270 80 58 88 48
12 Harry Himmelberg 2016-2026 Greater Western Sydney 212 80 57 73 43
13 Jacob Weitering 2016-2026 Carlton 211 79 57 82 41
14 Nick Haynes 2012-2026 Carlton 231 79 56 83 43
15 Tom McDonald 2011-2026 Melbourne 249 78 56 82 46
16 Miles Bergman 2021-2026 Port Adelaide 107 78 56 70 42
17 Bodhi Uwland 2023-2026 Gold Coast 59 78 56 76 42
18 Josh Battle 2017-2026 Hawthorn 155 78 56 73 41
19 Connor Idun 2019-2026 Greater Western Sydney 129 77 56 71 40
20 Zach Guthrie 2017-2026 Geelong 137 75 54 70 40
21 Tom McCartin 2018-2026 Sydney 160 75 54 64 34
22 Aliir Aliir 2016-2026 Port Adelaide 187 75 54 80 40
23 Jake Bowey 2021-2026 Melbourne 86 75 54 68 42
24 Keidean Coleman 2020-2026 Brisbane Lions 73 74 53 64 40
25 Jayden Laverde 2015-2026 Greater Western Sydney 153 72 52 64 38
26 Jack Silvagni 2016-2026 St Kilda 134 72 52 58 39
27 Jake Lever 2015-2026 Melbourne 194 72 52 78 38
28 Wil Powell 2018-2026 Gold Coast 138 71 52 74 42
29 Sam Collins 2016-2026 Gold Coast 160 71 52 78 37
30 Mac Andrew 2022-2026 Gold Coast 75 71 52 71 38
31 Blake Hardwick 2016-2026 Hawthorn 209 70 51 73 42
32 Ryan Lester 2011-2026 Brisbane Lions 235 70 51 65 39
33 Jack Henry 2018-2026 Geelong 168 70 51 64 35
34 Darcy Moore 2015-2026 Collingwood 188 70 51 79 40
35 Jack Scrimshaw 2017-2026 Hawthorn 119 69 51 76 41
36 Josh Weddle 2023-2026 Hawthorn 72 69 51 68 40
37 Daniel Rioli 2016-2026 Gold Coast 212 69 50 59 40
38 Ben Miller 2021-2026 Richmond 79 69 50 66 36
39 Connor OSullivan 2024-2026 Geelong 38 68 50 70 38
40 Jack Buckley 2020-2026 Greater Western Sydney 92 67 50 74 38
41 Charlie Comben 2021-2026 North Melbourne 56 66 49 67 35
42 Mitch McGovern 2016-2026 Carlton 154 66 49 64 40
43 Reuben Ginbey 2023-2026 West Coast 73 65 48 62 39
44 Sam De Koning 2021-2026 Geelong 94 65 48 64 35
45 Mason Wood 2014-2026 St Kilda 162 65 48 67 44
46 Nathan Broad 2016-2026 Richmond 181 65 48 64 35
47 Isaac Quaynor 2019-2026 Collingwood 145 64 48 66 38
48 Lachie Ash 2020-2026 Greater Western Sydney 137 64 59 47 46
49 Kade Chandler 2019-2026 Melbourne 88 64 47 51 38
50 Daniel Curtin 2024-2026 Adelaide 32 64 47 65 42
51 Charlie Ballard 2018-2026 Gold Coast 137 63 47 68 34
52 Lewis Young 2017-2026 Carlton 86 62 46 70 36
53 Logan Evans 2024-2026 Port Adelaide 32 62 46 63 38
54 Tom Barrass 2015-2026 Hawthorn 183 61 46 79 37
55 Dougal Howard 2016-2026 St Kilda 141 61 46 71 35
56 Noah Balta 2019-2026 Richmond 125 61 46 68 37
57 Daniel Turner 2023-2026 Melbourne 43 60 46 62 36
58 Corey Wagner 2016-2026 Fremantle 64 60 45 54 38
59 Brennan Cox 2017-2026 Fremantle 144 60 45 69 37
60 Chayce Jones 2019-2026 Adelaide 91 60 45 48 33
61 Brodie Kemp 2021-2026 Carlton 61 60 45 65 37
62 Lachlan Cowan 2023-2026 Carlton 46 60 45 57 35
63 Tom Cole 2016-2026 West Coast 135 60 45 54 34
64 Jack Lukosius 2019-2026 Port Adelaide 126 59 45 67 42
65 Heath Chapman 2021-2026 Fremantle 76 59 45 62 38
66 Ryan Maric 2023-2026 West Coast 53 58 44 53 36
67 Griffin Logue 2017-2026 North Melbourne 104 58 44 59 32
68 Dylan Stephens 2020-2026 North Melbourne 84 58 44 52 36
69 Sam Banks 2023-2026 Richmond 45 58 44 57 39
70 Jaxon Prior 2021-2026 Essendon 70 58 44 49 32
71 Karl Worner 2023-2026 Fremantle 38 58 44 59 36
72 Zach Reid 2021-2026 Essendon 30 57 44 59 34
73 Nick Coffield 2018-2026 Western Bulldogs 66 57 44 57 34
74 Tylar Young 2023-2026 West Coast 46 57 44 57 31
75 Nick Murray 2021-2026 Adelaide 73 57 43 51 28
76 Ben McKay 2017-2026 Essendon 112 57 43 59 30
77 Jake Kolodjashnij 2015-2026 Geelong 200 56 43 54 32
78 Sam Clohesy 2024-2026 Gold Coast 41 56 43 58 39
79 Alex Pearce 2015-2026 Fremantle 146 55 43 54 30
80 Joel Hamling 2015-2026 Sydney 105 55 43 65 32
81 Brady Hough 2022-2026 West Coast 85 55 42 52 34
82 Tom Brown 2023-2026 Richmond 47 55 42 56 34
83 Max Michalanney 2023-2026 Adelaide 76 55 42 56 35
84 Ryan Byrnes 2020-2026 St Kilda 81 55 42 49 35
85 Joe Richards 2024-2026 Port Adelaide 40 54 42 56 41
86 Aidan Corr 2013-2026 North Melbourne 176 54 42 54 31
87 Callum Ah Chee 2016-2026 Adelaide 163 54 42 49 35
88 Noah Answerth 2019-2026 Brisbane Lions 85 54 42 53 34
89 Ryan Gardner 2019-2026 Western Bulldogs 54 54 42 50 26
90 James ODonnell 2023-2026 Western Bulldogs 53 54 42 51 29
91 Anthony Caminiti 2023-2026 St Kilda 63 53 42 49 32
92 Mark OConnor 2017-2026 Geelong 149 53 42 55 35
93 Matthew Cottrell 2020-2026 Carlton 73 53 42 50 35
94 Changkuoth Jiath 2019-2026 Melbourne 78 53 41 61 36
95 Billy Frampton 2018-2026 Collingwood 86 53 41 55 31
96 Dane Rampe 2013-2026 Sydney 277 52 41 75 40
97 Luke Nankervis 2023-2026 Adelaide 33 52 41 53 35
98 Judd McVee 2023-2026 Fremantle 76 52 41 51 33
99 Buku Khamis 2021-2026 Western Bulldogs 50 51 41 49 30
100 Jeremy Sharp 2020-2026 Fremantle 58 51 41 52 37

Why a separate defenders 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 defenders, 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 →