Who are the players you just love watching? Not necessarily favourites from the team you support, but the players from across the league who stop you in your tracks and make you tune in anytime, anywhere.
Welcome to ESPN's sixth annual top 20 must-match players list.
This isn't just a countdown of the competition's biggest names, but a ranking of the players we simply can't wait to watch in action in 2025. It's a mix of the game's superstars, big names who have switched clubs, young guns who look ready to explode, those returning from injury, top draftees, or basically anyone we will be watching with interest this year.
The players ranked 20-11 were revealed last week. Here are those ranked 10-1.
Click here to look at the 2024 edition.
10. Jake Stringer
There aren't too many players who can flip a match on its head like Stringer. Consistency? Sometimes lacking, a common criticism of his game and frustration among fans. At his best, though, his strength one-on-one, explosiveness in the midfield, and ability to hit the scoreboard are traits that can tear any opposition apart. He now has a fresh start at the Giants, his third club, and though he's set to have a delayed start to the season with a hamstring injury, there are plenty of people keen to see how he fares. How he blends in with the likes of 2024 Coleman Medal winner Jesse Hogan and skipper Toby Greene is also fascinating. One thing's for certain: the GWS forward line just got a whole lot more dangerous.
9. Sam Lalor
It was a brutal introduction to senior footy for the 2024 No. 1 draft pick Lalor, who fractured his jaw in the Tigers' scratch match against the Eagles earlier this month. When he does get back on the park, there'll be plenty lot of eyeballs on him. Compared to Dustin Martin in his draft year, Lalor is a powerfully-built midfielder -- strong through the hips and a tackling machine -- and his hard edge is exactly what a rebuilding Richmond side needs for the next decade, and beyond. He'll certainly be must-watch when he makes his debut in yellow and black.
8. Izak Rankine
When Rankine is up and about, so too is Adelaide, and they'll need him more than ever this season. The 24-year-old is the most electrifying player on Matthew Nicks' list, his unmatched pace, elite skills and goal sense -- he has kicked goals in 31 of his past 35 games -- a nightmare for defenders. Although a hamstring injury and concussion interrupted the consistency of his 2024 season, it didn't stop us from sitting up every time he touched the Sherrin. Now set for even more midfield minutes, the flair he plays with is sure to stand out again.
7. Chad Warner
This time last year Warner was widely viewed as a top line AFL talent, but someone desperately lacking in consistency. Season 2024 taught us Warner can be that explosive, dynamic midfielder week in and week out, with the 23-year-old Swan booting a staggering 35 goals and tallying a league best 12 games with at least 20 disposals and multiple majors. There's so much intrigue surrounding Warner in 2025 given he is out of contract at season's end, with rumours of mammoth offers set to be tabled by both Fremantle and West Coast, the two clubs from his home state of Western Australia.
6. Isaac Heeney
Nobody could have predicted the extraordinary season Heeney would put together in 2024. Thrust into a fulltime midfield role, the long time Swan excelled from the get go, becoming Brownlow Medal favourite by midyear and an absolute lock for an All-Australian blazer. Heeney's not just a ball winner, he's a goal kicker (he booted 34 majors last year), brilliant ball user, as well as an elite tackler and pressure player. There may be a new coach at the Swans in Dean Cox, but there's absolutely no chance Heeney is getting pulled from the midfield.
5. Christian Petracca
We all know what Petracca is; an absolute brut at the contest and a marvel inside forward 50. For the past three years, Petracca has been a unanimous top five player in the competition, someone capable of winning any game off their own boot. Nobody in the league averages more score involvement per outing than Petracca and few have been as durable over the journey. Unfortunately, that streak ended last year after Petracca suffered a nasty injury on King's Birthday that ruled him out for the remainder of the season. With the Demons' premiership window barely still ajar, this feels like a redemption year for 'Trac'.
4. Nick Daicos
Is Daicos the best player in the league? Maybe. At worst he's probably the third name you're writing down. That's simply extraordinary for a player who has only just turned 22 years of age. Daicos is a ball magnet and an elite distributor, no surprise his Collingwood teammates look for him at every opportunity. He also knows how to hit the scoreboard, having kicked 39 goals across the last two seasons. For the second year in succession, Daicos enters as the favourite for the Brownlow Medal. Given he's averaged 33 votes over the last two campaigns, he can probably consider himself a little unlucky not to have won at least one of them.
3. Levi Ashcroft
He wasn't the top draft selection from 2024 but few draftees have entered their new clubs with as much hype as Ashcroft in recent times. Perhaps some of that hype is due to his brother, Will, winning last year's Norm Smith Medal, and many going so far as to say Levi might even be the better footballer. Ashcroft was a dominant junior, like Will, a colossus in the midfield and at the contest. It will be fascinating to see how Chris Fagan deploys his young charge in the early part of the season and if he can translate that form into the big time.
2. Shai Bolton
One of the most high-profile moves in the offseason was Bolton to the Dockers. A 'cherry on top' player, his dynamic play both in the midfield and forward of centre could provide his new club with a fresh point of difference with their ball movement, something the Dockers really have lacked under Justin Longmuir. A multiple goal kicker on 11 occasions in 2024, Bolton will be playing in a better side, with more weapons. There'll be significant interest in watching him ply his trade this year, a season in which many have the Dockers contending for premiership glory. Is Bolton the man who can tip them over the edge? Maybe.
1. Bailey Smith
There's a lot to unpack ahead of Smith's season in the hoops. Firstly, the high-profile move from the Bulldogs and how he fits at Geelong, and secondly, just how will he fare health-wise after more than 12 months out with a ruptured ACL. At his best, Smith is a line-breaking machine who racks up plenty of footy. His 2023 was a little underwhelming after a stellar couple of years prior at the kennel, and many (especially those in blue and white hoops) are anxious to see if he can return to, and better, his form. There's nobody more must-watch than Smith in 2025.