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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. 144 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
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1 Callum Wilkie 2019-2026 St Kilda 177 96 68 87 45
2 Jordan Ridley 2018-2026 Essendon 103 91 63 92 47
3 James Sicily 2015-2026 Hawthorn 202 90 63 100 53
4 Josh Worrell 2021-2026 Adelaide 77 89 62 85 46
5 Tom Stewart 2017-2026 Geelong 204 87 61 100 53
6 Jake Bowey 2021-2026 Melbourne 98 85 60 72 43
7 Mason Redman 2016-2026 Essendon 156 84 59 79 45
8 Luke Ryan 2017-2026 Fremantle 202 84 59 97 51
9 Bodhi Uwland 2023-2026 Gold Coast 71 84 59 79 43
10 Harris Andrews 2015-2026 Brisbane Lions 259 84 59 87 41
11 Nick Haynes 2012-2026 Carlton 242 81 57 83 44
12 Miles Bergman 2021-2026 Port Adelaide 115 81 57 72 43
13 Connor Idun 2019-2026 Greater Western Sydney 140 79 56 73 41
14 Jacob Weitering 2016-2026 Carlton 215 79 56 83 41
15 Josh Battle 2017-2026 Hawthorn 165 77 55 74 41
16 Jeremy Howe 2011-2026 Collingwood 279 77 54 88 47
17 Nick Vlastuin 2013-2026 Richmond 270 76 54 84 45
18 Mac Andrew 2022-2026 Gold Coast 87 75 54 73 39
19 Harry Himmelberg 2016-2026 Greater Western Sydney 223 75 53 73 43
20 Keidean Coleman 2020-2026 Brisbane Lions 73 75 53 64 40
21 Sam Taylor 2018-2026 Greater Western Sydney 139 75 53 83 40
22 Aliir Aliir 2016-2026 Port Adelaide 197 74 53 80 40
23 Tom McCartin 2018-2026 Sydney 171 74 53 64 34
24 Mark Keane 2020-2026 Adelaide 66 74 53 75 37
25 Tom McDonald 2011-2026 Melbourne 257 73 53 82 45
26 Blake Hardwick 2016-2026 Hawthorn 221 73 52 74 42
27 Jack Silvagni 2016-2026 St Kilda 145 72 52 59 39
28 Daniel Curtin 2024-2026 Adelaide 45 71 51 68 44
29 Daniel Turner 2023-2026 Melbourne 53 71 51 63 37
30 Darcy Moore 2015-2026 Collingwood 188 70 51 80 40
31 Wil Powell 2018-2026 Gold Coast 147 70 51 74 42
32 Jack Scrimshaw 2017-2026 Hawthorn 119 70 51 76 41
33 Josh Weddle 2023-2026 Hawthorn 81 70 51 68 40
34 Jayden Laverde 2015-2026 Greater Western Sydney 158 70 51 63 37
35 Lawson Humphries 2024-2026 Geelong 57 69 50 76 45
36 Sam Collins 2016-2026 Gold Coast 169 69 50 78 37
37 Jack Buckley 2020-2026 Greater Western Sydney 92 68 50 74 38
38 Isaac Quaynor 2019-2026 Collingwood 154 68 50 66 38
39 Connor OSullivan 2024-2026 Geelong 50 67 49 69 38
40 Ben Miller 2021-2026 Richmond 88 67 49 66 36
41 Mason Wood 2014-2026 St Kilda 170 67 49 68 44
42 Zach Guthrie 2017-2026 Geelong 149 67 49 69 40
43 Kade Chandler 2019-2026 Melbourne 99 66 49 53 39
44 Ryan Lester 2011-2026 Brisbane Lions 245 66 48 65 39
45 Lachie Ash 2020-2026 Greater Western Sydney 148 65 60 48 47
46 Lachlan Cowan 2023-2026 Carlton 59 65 48 59 37
47 Jake Lever 2015-2026 Melbourne 205 65 48 78 38
48 Reuben Ginbey 2023-2026 West Coast 74 65 48 62 38
49 Karl Worner 2023-2026 Fremantle 50 64 47 63 38
50 Logan Evans 2024-2026 Port Adelaide 40 62 47 64 39
51 Jaxon Prior 2021-2026 Essendon 81 62 46 51 34
52 Charlie Comben 2021-2026 North Melbourne 68 61 46 66 35
53 Sam Banks 2023-2026 Richmond 55 61 46 56 38
54 Jack Henry 2018-2026 Geelong 178 61 46 63 34
55 Nathan Broad 2016-2026 Richmond 191 61 46 64 35
56 Chayce Jones 2019-2026 Adelaide 91 60 45 48 33
57 Ryan Maric 2023-2026 West Coast 58 60 45 52 36
58 Noah Balta 2019-2026 Richmond 131 60 45 68 37
59 Zach Reid 2021-2026 Essendon 41 60 45 60 36
60 Tom Brown 2023-2026 Richmond 58 59 45 57 35
61 Dougal Howard 2016-2026 St Kilda 142 59 44 71 35
62 Billy Frampton 2018-2026 Collingwood 98 59 44 55 31
63 Tylar Young 2023-2026 West Coast 57 58 44 57 32
64 Jai Serong 2022-2026 Sydney 31 58 44 59 40
65 Corey Wagner 2016-2026 Fremantle 66 58 44 54 38
66 Nick Murray 2021-2026 Adelaide 76 58 44 53 29
67 Jack Lukosius 2019-2026 Port Adelaide 129 58 44 66 41
68 James ODonnell 2023-2026 Western Bulldogs 66 57 44 54 30
69 Tom Cole 2016-2026 West Coast 146 57 44 53 34
70 Mitch McGovern 2016-2026 Carlton 167 56 43 63 39
71 Lewis Young 2017-2026 Carlton 92 56 43 68 35
72 Brennan Cox 2017-2026 Fremantle 151 56 43 68 37
73 Harry Petty 2018-2026 Melbourne 118 56 43 53 33
74 Ryan Byrnes 2020-2026 St Kilda 92 56 43 50 35
75 Griffin Logue 2017-2026 North Melbourne 111 56 43 59 32
76 Brandon Zerk-Thatcher 2019-2026 Port Adelaide 93 55 43 57 30
77 Mark OConnor 2017-2026 Geelong 160 55 42 55 36
78 Nick Coffield 2018-2026 Western Bulldogs 74 55 42 57 34
79 Heath Chapman 2021-2026 Fremantle 87 55 42 60 37
80 Koltyn Tholstrup 2024-2026 Melbourne 39 55 42 56 38
81 Changkuoth Jiath 2019-2026 Melbourne 86 55 42 61 36
82 Ryan Gardner 2019-2026 Western Bulldogs 54 54 42 50 26
83 Ben Ainsworth 2017-2026 Carlton 181 54 42 57 41
84 Luke Nankervis 2023-2026 Adelaide 45 54 42 54 36
85 Jake Kolodjashnij 2015-2026 Geelong 205 54 42 54 32
86 Charlie Ballard 2018-2026 Gold Coast 144 54 42 66 33
87 Brodie Kemp 2021-2026 Carlton 74 53 41 64 38
88 Matthew Cottrell 2020-2026 Carlton 85 53 41 51 36
89 Sam Clohesy 2024-2026 Gold Coast 46 53 41 58 39
90 Joe Fonti 2024-2026 Greater Western Sydney 43 52 41 52 34
91 Anthony Caminiti 2023-2026 St Kilda 72 52 41 49 32
92 Brady Hough 2022-2026 West Coast 96 52 41 52 34
93 Jeremy Sharp 2020-2026 Fremantle 58 52 41 52 37
94 James Trezise 2023-2026 Richmond 33 51 40 52 35
95 Aidan Corr 2013-2026 North Melbourne 185 51 40 54 31
96 Callum Ah Chee 2016-2026 Adelaide 168 51 40 49 35
97 Max Michalanney 2023-2026 Adelaide 89 51 40 55 35
98 Noah Answerth 2019-2026 Brisbane Lions 97 51 40 52 34
99 Ben McKay 2017-2026 Essendon 117 51 40 58 30
100 Dane Rampe 2013-2026 Sydney 285 50 40 74 40

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 →