Best 23 in 2025

[KaySwizzle]

This is great,
I’d rather have Johnston or Farrar in above Budders. I can’t remember him stringing a good 10 minutes together. Heart in my mouth anytime he is near the pill.
Johnston, is run and gun, more dynamic with a touch of Mongrel about him.
Would love to see him get a run in this gun team that suits his strengths.

Normally I wouldn’t rate Budders. But I feel this year he has been pretty good and have no problem with him in best 23 at the moment.

I have a soft spot for Farrar, but Jeffrey has taken his spot—not as fast, but a much better kick.

Johnston is very quick, but he is still very raw and I’m not sure he can run out games at high intensity, even at VFL level. I would put him in the team before Berry though.

Because Berry is bottom of the barrel until he can prove he can kick a goal consistently. He is faster than Holman, but even less reliable to score somehow. Has so many attributes, but finishing isn’t one of them.

 

[DTLSchulzy16]

Normally I wouldn’t rate Budders. But I feel this year he has been pretty good and have no problem with him in best 23 at the moment.

Budda’s game vs WC was awesome, but quiet last weekend. Almost a flip of Sammy Clohesy quiet vs WC, good vs Dees. Get that sometimes on the wing depending on game style, wind and conditions

 

[SUNS]

I am pretty sure after next week Suns would have played the teams that finished 2024 in:

14th
15th
16th
17th
18th

We finished 13th

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Seems much more settled now don't we.


This was the team we played in R23 2017 in the game Took described as his darkest day as a Sun. Vs port in Adelaide 20-135. Wow.

 

[DTLSchulzy16]

Seems much more settled now don't we.


This was the team we played in R23 2017 in the game Took described as his darkest day as a Sun. Vs port in Adelaide 20-135. Wow.

View attachment 2316517

That side was so injury riddled it wasn’t funny by the end of it.

At the game, I remember Port fans clapped us off for getting them into the top 4 for one night. 2M Peter was the only target we had, and was also the first and last time McKenzie played as a key defender till he went to Port

Also known for Ablett car park dodging

 

[Seventeener]

So far this season, Dimma has used 30 players across 9 rounds, 14 aged over 25, 16 under 25, no debutants. With Ballard out for the year and 5 others out injured there are currently 38 players vying for 23 spots, including 7 who have yet to debut.

The difficulty with predicting who can step up is that the VFL side has had barely any exposure with only 5 games. Fiorini, Rosas and Moyle finally got their just rewards in Darwin, while Clohesy, Swallow and Holman played their way back into the side in no time. Others on the verge of selection are Davies, Johnston, Jepson and Lemmens, but they'll need to keep pressuring. Gulbin started the year on fire, so add his name.

Dimma showed last year that anyone who earnt a game could get a game, but if you didn't earn it you were gone.

 

[DCSuns]

So far this season, Dimma has used 30 players across 9 rounds, 14 aged over 25, 16 under 25, no debutants. With Ballard out for the year and 5 others out injured there are currently 38 players vying for 23 spots, including 7 who have yet to debut.

The difficulty with predicting who can step up is that the VFL side has had barely any exposure with only 5 games. Fiorini, Rosas and Moyle finally got their just rewards in Darwin, while Clohesy, Swallow and Holman played their way back into the side in no time. Others on the verge of selection are Davies, Johnston, Jepson and Lemmens, but they'll need to keep pressuring. Gulbin started the year on fire, so add his name.

Dimma showed last year that anyone who earnt a game could get a game, but if you didn't earn it you were gone.

Could probably add Lombard to that list also now back from his injury.

 

[Seventeener]

Could probably add Lombard to that list also now back from his injury.

I'll be happy for him to be a post-bye watch. He has the talent, but today showed he needs to crack in and regain touch, endurance and confidence. Definitely want to see him excel though.

 

[DTLSchulzy16]

From the side selected in the first final. How many changes to what we select in round 1 2026

Ballard? WGraham? Lombard? Rogers? Walter? ZUwland, Patterson? Addinsall? anyone traded in?

 

[KaySwizzle]

Ballard?

If fit, probably. Frees up Mac or pets Ballard play intercept role.

WGraham?

Definitely in. Straight sway for a Swallow.

Lombard? Rogers?

Competing for the same spot, at best. Or waiting on an injury to step up full time.

Walter?

Needs to improve a lot in the off-season. But hopefully. Read is ahead of him now.

ZUwland, Patterson? Addinsall?

I don’t think so. Let them develop. We’re in no rush to blood players these days. Let the kids grow and come in when ready.

anyone traded in?

Hopefully we have someone in the pipeline to come in and make an impact.

 

[Jirik13]

From the side selected in the first final. How many changes to what we select in round 1 2026

Ballard? WGraham? Lombard? Rogers? Walter? ZUwland, Patterson? Addinsall? anyone traded in?

Out: Budarick (trade), Farrar, Davies, Swallow
In: Graham, Rogers, Ballard, Walter

Powell Collins Noble
Rioli Ballard Andrew
Fiorini Rowell Weller
Witts Graham Anderson
Miller Humphrey Flanders
Long King Read

Uwland Rogers Walter Jeffrey Ainsworth

Em: Davies, Moyle, Clohesy, Lombard, Farrar

Z Uwland, Patterson no debut round 1

 

[Young_Guns]

Insane that we have 6x1st round draftees + Addinsall to still potentially bring into a finals team if they continue to develop.

You would expect our future picks to be all in on the table going hard at any talent interested in coming in over the next few years. Won’t need the points and any holes will need to be filled by mature talent, not more kids.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

From the side selected in the first final. How many changes to what we select in round 1 2026

Ballard? WGraham? Lombard? Rogers? Walter? ZUwland, Patterson? Addinsall? anyone traded in?

Assuming no big names in or out AND a 5 man bench.

Ballard - Collins - Uwland
Rioli - Andrew - Noble
Powell - Miller - Fiorini
Graham - Read - Humphrey
Walter - King - Long

Witts - Rowell - Anderson

Davies - Jeffrey - Rogers - Flanders - Ainsworth / Weller

E) Lombard, Moyle + 1 other.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Ended up 4th highest scoring side of the year which I never would have expected at the start of the year.

Our top 15 goal scorers for the regular season 2025.
King and Longy the 2 really performed above expectations.

Next year I can see both Humphrey and Read hitting the 30 goal mark.
Would have been interesting to see how W. Graham went with a full season.

1​	Ben King​	23​	69​
2​	Ben Long​	22​	43​
3​	Bailey Humphrey​	21​	22​
3​	Ben Ainsworth​	22​	22​
5​	Ethan Read​	19​	19​
6​	Jed Walter​	16​	18​
7​	Touk Miller​	21​	16​
8​	Noah Anderson​	23​	11​
8​	Sam Flanders​	21​	11​
10​	Will Graham​	8​	10​
11​	Jy Farrar​	6​	9​
11​	Matt Rowell​	23​	9​
13​	Daniel Rioli​	18​	8​
14​	Brayden Fiorini​	16​	7​
15​	Nicholas Holman​	16​	6​

 

[TheSunGod]

Natural progression suggests we should improve. Never hurts to add more quality and depth to the list l. Would be very interested to know what positions the list management team are looking to bolster as a priority.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

No Ben Long lol, Fish lost the plot

Interesting line-up from Whiting

B: Charlie Ballard, Sam Collins, Bodhi Uwland
HB: Daniel Rioli, Mac Andrew, John Noble
C: Ben Ainsworth, Noah Anderson, Sam Clohesy
HF: Touk Miller, Jed Walter, Jake Rogers
F: Leo Lombard, Ben King, Ethan Read
Foll: Jarrod Witts, Matt Rowell, Sam Flanders
I/C: Wil Powell, Lachie Weller, Will Graham, Bailey Humphrey

Emerg: Joel Jeffrey, David Swallow, Ben Long, Ned Moyle

Your club's best 22 in 2025: Who's in, who's out, who's new

With the trade period and draft done, our reporters have their say on your team's best line-up for next year

www.afl.com.au

Whiting only missing 45 goals from Long in 2025..

 

[Jirik13]

B: Charlie Ballard

10

Charlie Ballard

Age

26

Ht

196cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

8.8

3star

HB

3.1

3star

M

4.7

4star

T

1.2

3star

MG

185.6

3star

D

11.3

3star

K

7.7

3star

HB

3.6

2star

M

4.9

5star

T

1.3

2star

MG

158.9

3star

D

9.4

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.4

4star

MG

156.0

3star

, Sam Collins, Wil Powell

27

Wil Powell

Age

26

Ht

188cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.2

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.2

4star

MG

161.0

3star

D

11.8

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

1.7

2star

T

1.2

2star

MG

156.7

3star

D

8.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

MG

133.2

3star

HB: John Noble, Mac Andrew, Daniel Rioli

17

Daniel Rioli

Age

29

Ht

179cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.2

3star

K

5.8

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

2.7

3star

T

3.2

5star

MG

179.2

3star

D

8.1

2star

K

4.9

2star

HB

3.3

2star

M

2.0

2star

T

2.6

4star

MG

144.9

3star

D

9.0

3star

K

3.8

2star

HB

5.2

4star

M

0.8

1star

T

3.8

5star

MG

160.2

3star

C: Zeke Uwland, Noah Anderson

15

Noah Anderson

Age

25

Ht

192cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

6.0

4star

M

2.0

2star

T

0.0

1star

CL

0.0

1star

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

0.0

1star

CL

0.0

1star

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

0.0

1star

CL

0.0

1star

, Lachie Weller
HF: Touk Miller, Ethan Read, Bailey Humphrey
F: Ben Long, Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

25

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
Foll: Jarrod Witts, Matt Rowell

18

Matt Rowell

Age

24

Ht

180cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

D

17.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

D

17.4

5star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

0.8

1star

T

5.2

5star

CL

3.8

5star

, Christian Petracca

3

Christian Petracca

Age

30

Ht

187cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.4

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.5

4star

D

24.4

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.5

3star

T

3.6

4star

CL

3.4

4star

D

19.0

5star

K

7.8

3star

HB

11.2

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.0

4star

I/C: Bodhi Uwland, Joel Jeffrey, Will Graham, Jake Rogers, Leo Lombard

Emerg: Dylan Patterson, Alex Davies, Jy Farrar, Jed Walter

There's quite a few new faces to consider from the team that reached a semi-final in 2025. Christian Petracca slots straight into a mid-forward role, while Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will likely battle Jed Walter to be the third tall forward alongside Ben King and Ethan Read (who will also be the back-up ruck). Charlie Ballard is back from a knee reconstruction to solidify the tall defensive stocks, while Joel Jeffrey deserves to stay in the 23 after a terrific 2025. Zeke Uwland looks ready-made for a wing role in his first season and even though we haven't got him in the 23, fellow draftee Dylan Patterson shouldn't be far away. There are some spots at half-forward up for grabs, with Jake Rogers and Leo Lombard the frontrunners, but they'd want to take their chances with both hands as there's some experienced personnel waiting for any slip-ups. - Michael Whiting

Your club's best 23 in 2026: New roles, bolters and fresh faces

Our reporters have their say on who makes the cut for your team's best line-up for the 2026 season

www.afl.com.au

 

[kreglze]

Looks pretty solid.

Based on that, a Walter may be assessing his options.

I would also assume we are moving past Weller at some point this year.

Don't know if Ballard is an Opening Round starter.