Who has exceeded expectations or been the biggest surprise packet at your club in 2023?
There is always a player (or several) who bob up and play more games than you thought they would when assessing things in the pre-season.
There is frequently someone who changes roles and plays out of their skin in their new position.
Or it could be a no-name who was taken in a Rookie Draft or in the Supplementary Selection Period and has strung together regular senior games.
Whatever the situation may be, we have picked out a player (or several) from each of the 18 clubs who we believe has exceeded expectations this year.
See our suggestions below:
Mitch Hinge
Starting the season as a 24-year-old, Mitch Hinge has finally broken into Adelaide’s team and proved he deserved a spot after seven years on an AFL list.
Hinge has missed just one game in 2023 and has locked down a spot in Matthew Nicks’ backline. The running half-back played one of his best games of the season in Round 21, enjoying 15 contested possessions among his 33 possessions in a win over the Suns.
He’s also averaging 4.4 rebound 50s while helping out as a tall defender. There were hopes Hinge could nail a starting spot in 2023, but few could have predicted he’d flourish as he has after the bye. He's even proven himself an elite intercepter, averaging seven intercept possessions per game.
Chayce Jones has also taken a leap to begin to make good on the talent that saw him taken with a top 10 pick in 2018.
Seb Mottram
Jack Payne
Jack Payne has gone from a fine defender to one that’s just signed a massive five-year contract extension.
That’s a massive turnaround from someone who managed just 12 senior games in 2022.
Payne has shut down some of the game’s best forwards this year, his efforts on Charlie Curnow in Round 8 was the fire-starter for his rise in 2023.
With Marcus Adams ruled out for the entire 2023 season, many Brisbane fans were worried about their key defenders and who was going to play on the game's monster forwards.
Enters Payne.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
Adam Cerra
In his second season at Princes Park, Adam Cerra has emerged as an elite damaging on-baller and has fully lived up to the top 10 draft pick Carlton gave up to get him.
In a year where the Blues’ form and top players have had the consistency of melted ice cream, Cerra has delivered from start to finish.
He has averaged 26 disposals, 5.1 inside 50s, 4.5 clearances, 4.7 tackles and stood out with elite ball use.
Before doing his hamstring against Collingwood, he would have been leading Carlton’s best and fairest. The question will be whether he holds on from here.
If the Blues ever get their full on-ball unit on the park together, they will be tough to stop.
Nic Negrepontis
Nick Daicos
We already knew he was a good player, but Nick Daicos is easily the Magpie that has exceeded what expectations we had of him this season.
Even though many were calling his debut season as the best in modern history, somehow Daicos’ trajectory took off even further in his second campaign.
While he’ll now miss at least six weeks with a knee injury, Daicos is still every chance of winning the Brownlow and for much of the year he was the best player in the comp, playing for the best team in the comp.
That’s just astounding given his age and experience, and we can only wonder what he’ll become for the Magpies across the next decade and a bit.
We doubt he’ll ever appear on this list again … particularly as some have him tracking to be an all-time great, but it would be amiss for us to look past him for 2023 at least.
Lachlan Geleit
Kyle Langford
Who could have seen Kyle Langford’s season coming?
After Peter Wright’s pre-season shoulder injury, Essendon were in desperate need for goals in the first half of the season while Wright completed his rehab.
Coupled with young forward Harrison Jones’ injury-riddled year, the Bombers were threadbare up forward.
Up steps Kyle Langford.
The 26-year-old has been used in virtually every position on the field in his time at Essendon, but has now found his home up forward, booting 45 goals and just 18 behinds to date with three rounds remaining.
While his marking and leading patterns have stood out, Langford’s ability to be virtually faultless in front of goal has ensured Essendon has able to win more games than expected in Brad Scott’s first year.
Laurence Rosen
Jye Amiss
After only gaining the three games in his debut season, Amiss has become the main target up forward who can be relied upon in this young Fremantle side.
Amassing 34 goals from 19 games this season, Amiss has strengthened his credentials as one of the best up and coming forwards in the competition and deservedly, has solidified himself as a genuine chance of winning this years Rising Star award.
Amongst all of the other Rising Star nominees this season, Amiss is ranked first in total goals, goals per game, total contested marks, total marks inside 50 and marks inside 50 per game.
Zac Sharpe
Gryan Miers
Gryan Miers had been a mainstay in the Geelong forward line for four years heading into 2023 but it always felt he was one bad performance away from being dropped.
Not anymore.
The 24-year-old with the best name in the AFL has been simply sublime across the 2023 season and has won the Cats several games off his own boot.
Not in terms of goals kicked, but goals set up. On 10 occasions Miers has had two or more goal assists and suddenly, it’d be a shock if Miers is not at least selected in the All-Australian squad.
His elite disposal has quickly seen him become one of Geelong’s most important players and the opposition’s biggest headaches.
Plenty of credit must also be given to Esava Ratugolea. There were a few doubters on the 25-year-old coming into 2023, but they've vanished give his form behind the ball.
Seb Mottram
Sam Flanders
No one has enjoyed a bigger career revival than Sam Flanders in 2023.
Out of contract and out of the side, the pick 11 from the 2019 draft was at crossroads in his career.
He returned to the Gold Coast lineup in Round 15, shortly before Stuart Dew’s sacking, and hasn’t put a foot wrong. He’s averaged just over five clearances a game playing alongside the likes of Touk Miller, Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, and has been in the best in every game since his return.
If Gold Coast can secure his signature it’s a big bonus. But if not, Flanders’ form in recent weeks suggests the Suns can put a big trade price on his head.
Jack Lukosius also deserves plenty of plaudits. A season that had been coming for a while, Lukosius had kicked 36 goals from 20 games in 2023. Previously, he’d never kicked more than eight goals in a season.
Seb Mottram
Kieren Briggs
Kieren Briggs started the season as the third choice ruckman at GWS when behind Braydon Preuss and Matthew Flynn in the pecking order.
However, he has pushed himself firmly into Adam Kingsley’s plans in 2023 after playing just nine times across 2021 and 2022.
The 23-year-old Briggs is averaging 15.4 disposals, 26.4 hit-outs, 6.3 clearance and 5.5 tackles across 11 matches for the Giants this campaign. He has been one of the form rucks in the competition since stepping into the side in Round 10, more than holding his own against the league’s very best.
Jack Buckley’s evolution into an elite key defender must be noted, while fellow backman Connor Idun’s improvement has taken some by surprise.
Andrew Slevison
Conor Nash
The Irishman had been tried and tested in a variety of positions all over the ground and it was felt going into 2022 that he might be on his last chance at Bunjil Bagora.
He was moved into the midfield during the year, where his bash and crash added a fresh dimension to an otherwise one-sized and one-paced engine room. His spot in the team was by no means secure this year despite a contract extension, but he has put those thoughts to bed with a superb season.
He has gone from 15.5 to 23.9 disposals a game (including three 30-plus returns) and clearances from 3.1 to 4.4. His tackle count is up as well.
Sam Mitchell recently lauded the leadership he brings to the Hawks and he now appears set to be a key member of the side as the Hawks set their sights on a return to the finals in the next couple of years.
Ashley Browne
Judd McVee
Coming off an impressive second pre-season, McVee made his debut for Melbourne in Round 1 this year which has seen him cement his spot in the side ahead of veterans such as Michael Hibberd all season.
To a lot of Melbourne fans, the rise of McVee wasn’t expected to come this early and has caught a lot by surprise has to how well he has fitted in and adjusted to the AFL system in just his second season at the club.
The reliable defender from Geraldton has averaged just under 13 disposals a game whilst also being ranked third amongst Rising Star nominees for intercept possessions this season.
Zac Sharpe
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Harry Sheezel
I think everyone expected Harry Sheezel to be a home run draft selection, but to average 26 disposals per game in his first season while playing every game? Nobody saw that coming.
The assumption coming into 2023 was that the 18-year-old would play as a forward, do a few mercurial things and drift through the midfield. Instead, he has been one of the game’s more prolific half back flankers.
Sheezel has been so consistently good since Round 1 that people have almost become too accustomed to it.
He should win the Rising Star award, having had one of the more consistently excellent debut seasons in recent years.
Nic Negrepontis
Miles Bergman
While Zak Butters went from good to great in 2023, his teammate Miles Bergman may have made an even bigger leap from where he began.
After showing signs across his first two seasons, Bergman has turned into a guaranteed best 22 defender and has done several big roles for Ken Hinkley’s side across 19 games in 2023.
A medium-sized defender that can play tall and small, Bergman has the athleticism and footy smarts to develop into one of the competition’s best interceptors and he has taken a big step to becoming that this campaign.
Proving how highly he is rated, the 21-year-old was reportedly being chased by several Victorian clubs before he inked a new two-year extension to remain at Alberton.
Bergman looms as a big piece in Port Adelaide’s push for the flag. That’s not something we would have expected during the pre-season.
Lachlan Geleit
Tylar Young
Not many would have heard of Tylar Young when Richmond selected him in the Rookie Draft last November.
From playing country footy for North Albury, to the VFL with both Frankston and the Tigers, to becoming an AFL regular in the space of a few seasons is a fair effort.
Young has been a mainstay in defence in the absence of the injured and now retired Robbie Tarrant, gaining invaluable experience alongside the likes of Dylan Grimes, Noah Balta, Nick Vlastuin and Nathan Broad.
While he has looked out of his depth on the odd occasion, the 24-year-old has put together a solid debut season which has earned him a two-year contract extension, something not expected when the 2023 campaign commenced.
Emerging ruck/forward Samson Ryan has played 14 games this year and has shown plenty after failing to force his way last year. He has a bright future ahead.
Anthony Caminiti
Joining the club as a pre-season supplemental selection in February, Caminiti has had a fantastic opening season for the Saints.
Caminiti has played 19 games this year under Ross Lyon, earning himself a three-year contract extension.
That’s a great story.
Whilst he hasn’t dominated games this year, Caminiti has shown glimpses of a forward on the rise.
He’s athletic, a beautiful kick of the footy and isn’t afraid to fly for his marks.
Full credit to St Kilda’s list management team for finding someone that will play alongside Max King for the next five to ten years.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
Hayden McLean
After being in and out of the side since his debut in 2019, Hayden McLean has put together his most complete season to date.
At the beginning of the year, Sydney were looking at which of their three young forwards in McLean, Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald would replace the outgoing Lance Franklin as their key forward.
McLean has played 18 games in 2023, the most in his short career and has locked down his position as one of Sydney's target forwards. The 24-year-old has kicked a career-best 15 goals this season including four in a breakout game against the Giants in Round 21.
With Tom Hickey’s injury struggles, McLean has also been invaluable as a back up ruck option with an average of 10.2 hitouts per game.
What would’ve pleased coach John Longmire the most is that McLean has bridged the gap between his best and worst performances and has been one of the Swans’ most consistent players in what has largely been a disappointing season.
Charles Goodsir
Jamaine Jones
When it comes to the Eagles, it’s almost essential to put aside the games played when approaching this topic, as that would eliminate the bulk of the squad.
With that caveat established, it’s clear that Jamaine Jones is the player at West Coast that demolished expectations this year.
After a positional change to half back, Jones was in career-best form before going down with an ankle injury, averaging 18.5 touches through his 10 games.
When he played, the speedster was consistently one of the Eagles’ best.
18-year-old Reuben Ginbey also impressed in the early stages of his young career, with the tackling machine providing some sorely needed intensity for West Coast.
Jack Makeham
Liam Jones
After sitting out a full AFL season following a premature retirement, Liam Jones has come in and made a massive difference to the Bulldogs defence.
There was hope he would have a critical impact but the fact he has actually been the club’s premier defender, returning to the heights he hit at Carlton.
Oskar Baker surprisingly played 15 games after he was taken in the SSP, but was usurped by Caleb Poulter who was handed an AFL lifeline by the Dogs.
The former Collingwood wingman has played six matches since he was taken as a mid-year rookie.
James O’Donnell has surprisingly played nine games of senior footy in his debut season.
Jack Makeham