Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne has handed down the top 10 players in the competition, with enough data after Round 4 to make a list early in season 2024.
Champion Data’s new ratings system works by analysing how far above or below expectation players have performed per 100 minutes, meaning all positions on the ground can be compared.
Check out the fresh rankings for 2024 below.
1. Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
“Number one is pretty obvious, it’s Isaac Heeney,” Hoyne began on SEN’s Sportsday.
“He’s had the best start to a system we’ve seen from any player in 15 years. The ratings system has been in place since 2010 and we have not seen a player hit the ground running and perform as well as Isaac Heeney has after five matches.
“His ball winning ability, his ball use, ability to impact the game in the forward half in limited minutes is off the charts and his midfield work has been superb.
“He is clearly the best player in the competition at the moment and you would think hes miles ahead in the Brownlow. Last year in this ratings system he was the 47th best player.”
2. James Worpel (Hawthorn)
“What might surprise is that James Worpel has had the 2nd most impact with ball in hand of any player in the competition this year.
“Last year he was 64th in the competition, this year he’s 2nd. Whether or not he stays there who knows. But four games in, he’s flying.”
3. Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
“He was 3rd last year, I think he’s been top 10 in six of the last seven years… Bontempelli’s ball-winning ability is second in the competition, the impact he’s having on that side of the game.”
4. Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
“He was number eight last year, he’s 4th so far this year. The improvement in his game is that he’s got both sides of the game ticked off, his ball winning ability and ball use is both top 25 in the competition.”
5. Nick Blakey (Sydney)
“He was 5th last year and already number five this year again. It’s what he does with ball in hand that separates him.”
6. Kieren Briggs (Greater Western Sydney)
“He came in at 15th last year, he’s now 6th to start the season. His ball winning ability across the competition is rated 11 in the competition, up there with the best midfielders… that’s what’s separated Max Gawn over the last couple of seasons.”
7. Willem Drew (Port Adelaide)
“This is probably going to come as the biggest surprise… I reckon Connor Rozee and Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis, and rightly so, they get the recognition because they’re easy on the eye, their powerful with ball in hand and they’re all going really well.
“But Drew is probably, at the moment, the most rounded player in the competition. His ball use is 12th in the competition, his ability to impact the game through his ball-winning ability is 33rd and then his defensive actions are top 10 as well.
“There’s no other player in the competition that has that profile at the moment… he’s so significant to what Port Adelaide is going to be abel to do going forward this season. He was 226th last year.”
8. Dan Houston (Port Adelaide)
“He was 2nd last year, 8th this year. His ball use is what separates him, such a dynamic ball user.”
9. Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
“3rd most impact through his ball-winning ability. Serong was 76th in the competition last year, so a significant improvement.”
10. Matthew Rowell (Gold Coast)
“Rounding out the top 10 is Matty Rowell. No one impacts more with ball winning ability than Matt Rowell.
“He was 91st last year, so up to the top 10.”
