Aussie Rules demands just about every skill you can think of. Long clearing kicks out of defence, clean hands at ground level, quick hands in traffic, high-flying marks, gut-running efforts along the wing, the nifty exploits from crafty small forwards -- our game really has it all, every role across the field bringing a unique impact. And it's all those subtle skills and split-second decisions that really separate the good from the great.
So, with the help of Champion Data, we've broken it all down and identified the best players in the AFL at each individual skill. Who is the quickest decision-maker? Who is the most ambidextrous player? Who is the best boundary line specialist, and who is the most elusive player? Here are the elite of the elite in 2025.
NOTE: All stats accurate as of the end of Round 16
Kicking/ball use by foot
Best kick on the run: Josh Ward (Hawthorn)
Using 'kick rating', which measures how often a player hits the intended target compared to the competition average (also taking into account things like the pressure applied on the disposal, and kick location), Ward ranks No. 1 among the 130 players with at least 75 kicks on the run, with a rating of +9.5% from his 84 attemps in the first 16 rounds.
Best kick under pressure: Karl Amon (Hawthorn)
Silky Hawk Karl Amon is generally a very good ball user off half-back and along the wing, but even under 'closing' or 'physical' pressure, he has the league's best kick rating (minimum 20 kicks) of +17.7%, making him a trustworthy distributor.
Best kick on opposite foot: Cooper Sharman (St Kilda)
Saints forward Cooper Sharman doesn't just use his non-preferred when he has to, he makes it count. From an admittedly-small sample of 11 left foot kicks, he has a kick rating of +20.8%, using his left peg 11 times.
Best long kick (kicks over 40 metres): Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs)
Excluding shots at goal, Bailey Dale has a kick rating of +12.3% -- the highest rate of any player with at least 50 long kicks this season, of which he averages 6.3 per game.
Best short kick (kicks under 40 metres): Touk Miller (Gold Coast)
Once again we aren't considering shots at goal here. Looking at players with at least 50 short kicks in 2025, the Suns star averages four short kicks per game, coming out on top with a massive rating of +17.5%.
Longest average kick: Finn Callaghan (GWS)
Giants midfielder Finn Callaghan is averaging a competition-high 39 metres gained per kick in 2025 (of players with at least 100 kicks), a figure that also factors in the distance he covers while running prior to disposal -- a nod to his offensive instincts.
Shortest average kick: Jack Henry (Geelong)
Cats defender Jack Henry is certainly reliable but doesn't bite off too much, with an average of 13.2 metres gained per kick.
Best overall decision maker by foot: Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs)
Dale leads the AFL with 96 rating points (an equity rating to measure a player's performance, considering things like where a player wins the ball, the pressure they face, and the impact of their disposal) from field kicks, combining smart ball use (77% kick retention) with scoring impact, making him the league's ultimate distributor.
Most damaging kick: Bailey Humphrey (Gold Coast)
When it comes to scoring, no player hurts teams more by foot than Humphrey, with a staggering 45% of his kicks in 2025 leading directly to a score. He's an elite impact per disposal player and that's as obvious to the eyes as it is via the numbers.
Most reliable user by foot: Harris Andrews (Brisbane)
Admittedly, many of them are short chips across the backline, but facts are facts -- Brisbane's defensive general leads the AFL with an 89% kick retention rate, making him the league's most effective and secure ball-user.
Most creative kick: Shai Bolton (Fremantle)
Bolton attempts some of the toughest kicks in footy and still beats expectations. Among players taking low-percentage options, he's the first to finish in the positive for kick rating (+0.9%). He's got a deadly blend of risk and craft.
Quickest decision maker by foot: Ben McKay (Essendon)
Among 320 players with at least 50 kicks this season, McKay ranks first in Champion Data's new 'time rating' (243), moving the ball almost twice as fast as the competition average (which sits at 100).
Time rating is an assessment of comparative time, measuring whether a player holds onto the footy longer or shorter than expected before disposing, relative to the average (100). When measuring time with the ball, we've excluded forward 50 disposals and pre-clearance disposals, instead looking at general play.
Best 45 kick (inboard): Cooper Sharman (St Kilda)
Seven of Sharman's nine inboard kicks (taking the ball from outside to inside) this season have led to a score, and he's doing it from all parts of the ground, with seven of his nine inboard kicks coming from attacking or defensive midfield positions.
Best 45 kick (outboard): Adam Saad (Carlton)
The Carlton speedster has a 56% score rate from his outboard kicks in 2025, the best in the league among 76 qualifying players with at least 12 outboard attempts.
Best kick inside 50: Pat Lipinski (Collingwood)
Lipinski has been a valuable asset for the Pies, leading the comp with a 73% retention rate and 51% mark rate from his inside 50 kicks (minimum 30 attempts).
Best kick out of defensive 50: Max Holmes (Geelong)
Often pushing back as a hard-running midfielder, Holmes has a +13.6% kick rating out of the backline, launching attacks and rebounding with precision and impact.
Most productive from kick-ins: Callum Wilkie (St Kilda)
Wilkie has turned 36% of his kick-ins into scores, which is the highest rate in the league among the 77 players with at least 10 kicks out of the goal square.
Handballing and ground work
Longest average handball: Jayden Hunt (West Coast)
Known for his run-and-carry, Hunt averages 6.3 metres gained per handball, the longest in the AFL among the 233 players with at least 70 handballs.
Shortest average handball: Tristan Xerri (North Melbourne)
Xerri averages 11.3 handballs per game, but because he often goes backwards -- usually dishing off to his midfield teammates at a stoppage -- he averages -2.0 metres per handball!
Best handballer under pressure: Riley Thilthorpe (Adelaide)
This one might come as a surprise, but of the 128 players with at least 20 handballs under physical pressure, Thilthorpe has an 88.5% handball efficiency, showing his poise and strength in tight contests.
Best decision maker by hands: Brad Close (Geelong)
Close turns handballs into scoring chains better than anyone, with an AFL-best 41.9% of his handballs leading to a score this season.
Quickest hands: Tom Sparrow (Melbourne)
Among 229 players with more than 50 handballs, Sparrow ranks No.1 in Champion Data's time rating (164), releasing teammates faster than anyone.
Best first-possession winner: Tom Green (GWS)
Excluding ruck grabs, no one gets more first use of the footy (146 this season) than Green. First-possession being the initial possession that follows a stoppage, including a looseball-get, hardball-get, intended ball-get (gather), free kick or ground kick, it's no surprise the GWS stoppage beast leads the league in this area.
Best ball hunter: Liam Baker (West Coast)
No one hunts the footy better post-clearance than Baker, with 86 groundball gets (the most in the AFL) highlighting his relentless work rate and ability to win the ball in any area.
Contest and aerial
Best contested mark: Max Gawn (Melbourne)
Gawn leads the AFL with 36 contested marks in 2025, averaging 2.4 per game, with 43% of his total marks coming in contested situations.
Best intercept mark: Sam Taylor (GWS)
Taylor tops the league in intercept marks (58), contested intercepts (29), and one-on-one intercepts (13). He is a defensive wall who reads the play better than most and constantly beats his opponent in the air.
Best mark one-on-one: Sam Taylor (GWS)
The GWS star has taken 13 one-on-one marks as mentioned above, the most in the AFL.
Best 1v1 forward: Bailey Humphrey (Gold Coast)
Despite being more of an explosive type rather than a key, Suns youngster Humphrey wins 57% of his one-on-ones -- the best win rate among the AFL's top 50 one-on-one targets. He's proving to be a nightmare matchup inside 50.
Best mark on lead: Brody Mihocek (Collingwood)
The AFL's most reliable target inside 50, Mihocek has marked 90% of his leads in 2025, the highest rate in the comp among the 73 players with 15-plus leads made.
Best spoiling defender: Harris Andrews (Brisbane)
We all know Andrews is constantly disrupting contests and nullifying aerial threats as Brisbane's defensive anchor, but the numbers back it up, too, his 107 spoils leading the competition.
Best 1v1 defender: Sam Taylor (GWS)
Taylor is almost unbeatable in the contest, losing just 9% of his one-on-ones this season.
Best lock down defender: Harry Perryman (Collingwood)
Whether in the midfield or backline, Perryman knows how to shut his opponents down, restricting them by 61% in rating points output -- giving him the best defensive rating in the AFL.
Most effective ruckman: Mabior Chol (Hawthorn)
Before you scoff -- we know Chol's a forward first, but when pinch-hitting in the ruck, he's effective, winning hitouts to advantage 40% of the time, the best rate of any ruck who averages at least two hitouts per game.
Movement and physical pressure
Most elusive player: Harley Reid (West Coast)
Reid leads the AFL in combined baulks and broken tackles with 39, bursting into space and evading players like few others. The next best is Chad Warner with 30.
Best endurance runner: Brayden Fiorini (Gold Coast)
Fiorini covers more distance per game than every player, averaging 15.9km. It's that elite work rate that underpins his consistent two-way running.
Best pressure player: Tom Atkins (Geelong)
You can always trust Atkins to bring relentless heat, leading the AFL with 74.1 pressure points per game -- a stat that rewards chases, closes, corralling, and tackling as a weighted sum.
Best tackler: Tyson Stengle (Geelong)
Stengle has a league-high 83% tackle efficiency, meaning nearly every attempt either sticks, affects disposal quality, or wins him a free.
Best chase-down tackler: Rhyan Mansell (Richmond)
With eight run-down tackles in 2025, no one closes on their opponent better than the fleet-footed Mansell.
Best tackler inside 50: Paul Curtis (North Melbourne)
Known more for his elite skills and goal sense, Curtis has also brought an elite defensive edge to his game this year, topping the league with 34 tackles inside 50.
Best tackler in defensive 50: Dane Rampe (Sydney)
As for the backline, the mantle goes to Swans veteran Dane Rampe who has laid 26 defensive-50 tackles.
Best midfield tagger: James Jordon (Sydney)
James Jordon has a defensive rating of 33%, making him the league's best shutdown midfielder in 2025.
Overall decision-making
Most reliable decision-maker: Ryley Sanders (Western Bulldogs)
Of the AFL's top 150 ball-winners, no one uses it better than young Bulldog Sanders, retaining possession from 82% of his disposals.
Safest ball user: Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
The ever-reliable Pendlebury turns it over just once every 11.44 disposals -- the best ratio for any player with at least six games to their name averaging 14 disposals -- proving he's still the game's safest decision-maker with ball in hand.
Most composed player: Bailey Williams (Western Bulldogs)
More than 60% of his disposals come under pressure, but Williams still goes at 84% efficiency, showing remarkable poise for the Dogs.
Most clutch player: Steele Sidebottom (Collingwood)
Sidebottom shines when it counts, averaging 3.7 rating points in the final 15 minutes of games decided by 12 points or less -- the most impact in close contests this season.
Best at turning defence into attack: Jack Silvagni (Carlton)
One of the most improved players in the game, 27.3% of Jack Silvagni's rebound 50s lead to a score, while 22.9% of his defensive half kicks have also sparked scoring opportunities for the Blues.
Goalkicking and attacking ability
Most dangerous forward: Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)
Cameron tops the scoreboard impact charts with 366 total points this season, combining goals, behinds, and assists to be the AFL's most potent forward threat.
Most reliable kick around the body: Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)
No matter where he takes his shots from, Cameron's 29 snapped goals prove he's the AFL's most reliable kick around the body.
Best crumbing forward: Rhylee West (Western Bulldogs)
West leads the AFL with 22 forward 50 crumbs this season, quietly contributing across the board without needing to star.
Best goal sense: Ed Richards (Western Bulldogs)
A midfielder with sniper accuracy off the boot, Richards hits the scoreboard +14.3% above expected accuracy, kicking 13 goals -- including a stunning banana from the boundary in Round 8 to prove he has the skills to nail a shot from anywhere.
Best pressure forward: Paul Curtis (North Melbourne)
Curtis applies more forward 50 pressure than anyone, averaging 21.6 pressure points, his harassing of opponents complementing his goal nous perfectly.
Best overall kick for goal: Jamie Elliott (Collingwood)
The Collingwood sharpshooter is as clinical as they come in front of goal, kicking 44 points above his expected score -- the AFL's best return.
Expected accuracy is a way of measuring the likelihood of a player scoring a goal, taking into account the shot type -- such as set shots, snaps, and on the run -- location on the field, and the pressure at the point of the kick. Every shot gets compared to the competition average across the same shots attempted since 2013, with the lower the expected accuracy the more difficult a player's shot is.
Best boundary line specialist: Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
It's unsurprising that Swans star Heeney has four goals to his name -- more than anyone else -- from the tightest of angles (within two metres of the boundary or beyond it).
Most valuable inside 50 target: Ben Long (Gold Coast)
When Long is the target inside 50, Gold Coast retains the ball 61% of the time, making him a safe option going forward.
Other
Most disciplined player: Lachie Fogarty (Carlton)
Fogarty walks the line better than anyone, the underrated Blue laying 13.75 tackles for every free kick conceded, the best ratio in the AFL among players with at least 50 tackles.
Best swingman: Zach Merrett (Essendon)
Merrett's impact all over the ground is elite. His combined 100X rating in the backline and forward line sits at +9.7, well above the positional average.
Champion Data's 100X rating system is a metric used to assess the performance of players, comparing their individual statistics against the average performance of players in the same position. It measures how many rating points a player accumulates above or below the positional average per 100 minutes of game time. This allows for a balanced comparison of players across different positions.
Most versatile player: Josh Weddle (Hawthorn)
Weddle's combined 100X rating of +20.13 across multiple roles shows he excels and outperforms his peers wherever he plays. No matter the position, he finds a way to impact the game.
Most ambidextrous player: Sam Darcy (Western Bulldogs)
Remarkably polished on both sides for a young key-position player, Darcy used his opposite foot 33% of the time in the first 16 rounds -- more than anyone else in the competition.
Most damaging metres gained player: Karl Amon (Hawthorn)
Amon leads all players (minimum six games played) with 480 effective metres gained per game, combining his elite run-and-carry traits and precision to constantly drive the Hawks forward with genuine impact.
Best launchpad player: John Noble (Gold Coast)
Noble averages 389 assisted metres gained per game, helping spark the Suns' ball movement out of defence and open up games with link-up play.
Most patient with ball in hand: Beau McCreery (Collingwood)
A player who loves taking the game on and using his pace to leave opponents in his wake, Beau McCreery has the ball longer than anyone before disposing, with an incredibly low (and AFL-low) time rating of 3.2.