New list ranking the best players in the AFL leaves some footy stars crying foul - so do YOU agree with the pecking order?
But the announcement of AFL26 has come with plenty of debate after the stats and attributes of some of the game's best players for the latest addition to the video game franchise had been revealed on social media.
In fact, the stats had some players and fans crying a little foul.
It's been three years since Big Ant Studios and Nacon teamed up to publish a new AFL game.
This year's edition, which works in a similar ranking system to games including EA Sports FC, has ranked Carlton star Patrick Cripps as the highest-rated player in the game.
And there's not much separating the top seven in the game, with the Carlton captain, a two-time Brownlow Medallist for 2022 and 2024, sitting just one point ahead of Collingwood rival Nick Daicos, who has risen to stardom over the past two years for his sensational performances for the Magpies.
Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli (left) and Nick Daicos (right) rank as joint-second in the rankings
Three-time Leigh Matthews Trophy winner Marcus Bontempelli sits tied in second with Daicos with a rating of 93, while another Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale leads a quartet of Zak Butters, Jeremy Cameron and Isaac Heeney as the next best-ranked players, all joint on 92.
In fact, the current standings are not far off the AFL's April power rankings, with Daicos sitting top ahead of Cripps, Bontempelli, Heeney and Jeremy Cameron, while Chad Warner squeezes into the top seven ahead of Lachie Neale, while Zak Butters falls to ninth behind Christian Petracca.
Meanwhile, leading stats for each aspect of the game have also been revealed, and one AFL star, Max Holmes, was absolutely filthy that he'd been left off the list for the league's top speedsters.
After revealing AFL26's stats lists on Instagram, Holmes, who was not included in the top-10 fastest players, commented on the post: 'Excuse me?'
Instead, the video game has ranked Sam Switkowski as top, Tyson Stengle second and Brent Daniels in third. Bailey Banfield, Ben Ainsworth, Lachie Schultz, Zach Guthrie and Zac Williams all follow, with Callum Ah Chee and Dylan Moore making up the final two.
Max Gawn was ranked top for hitouts, interestingly above Port ruckman Jordon Sweet, who currently supersedes Gawn for the most hitouts in 2025, and is interestingly not included in AFL360's top-10.
North Melbourne were also aggrieved Nick Larkey was ranked 10th on the list of top set shot takers with his current shot at goal accuracy sitting at 60.6 per cent - one of the best ratios in the league.
'The most accurate set shot of all time in 10th,' North wrote.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by AFL (@afl)
Max Holmes was left aggrived he wasn't included in the top ten for speed on AFL26, while fans questioned why certain players had been omitted from different categories
Larkey was usurped at the top of the list by Josh Treacy, Jesse Hogan, Charlie Curnow, Ben King and Jeremy Cameron.
Others were incensed by the omission of Darcy Fogarty from the set shots line-up.
Some were baffled at why Geelong star Tom Atkins had been omitted from the tackling ladder, despite leading the competition for an average of 10.5 tackles a game.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Why the AFL keeps smashing the NRL's grand final entertainment by attracting the world's biggest music stars
The AFL and the NRL have been at loggerheads for years over who can bring in the biggest crowds, who can amass the most television viewers and which code can take the crown as Australia's biggest and most influential sport. Rugby league is known for taking innovative steps to grow the sport on the world stage. Take the league's recent exploits in Las Vegas, for example. NRL bosses Peter V'landys and Andrew Abdo have formulated a brilliant plan to pull in more viewers Stateside through the annual season-opening festival of rugby league in the entertainment capital. The AFL has also continued to innovate, too, and perhaps one thing that Andrew Dillon and Co do better than their rugby league counterparts is draw in big acts for its annual showpiece at the MCG. The latest of those is Snoop Dogg, who revealed on Tuesday that he will be the headline act for this year's pre-match entertainment for the AFL Grand Final on September 27. The self-proclaimed Western Bulldogs fan, who has hits including 'Drop It Like It's Hot', will follow a line of big names to perform in front of the 100,000 fans who will cram into the 'G for the event. In the past, the AFL has landed the likes of pop sensations, Katy Perry and Robbie Williams who got the iconic stadium bopping with their pop hits. The Killers and rock legends Kiss both took to the centre of the Oval, while Ed Sheeran belted out some of his famous tracks in 2014. The NRL, meanwhile, has also had its fair share of big names perform at its Grand Final, including Grammy nominees OneRepublic, Gang of Youths, and Macklemore. Comparatively, the AFL has certainly appeared to have more sway in luring global talents to Aussie shores for its Grand Final. And that, according to the Editor in Chief of Rolling Stone Magazine, Neil Griffiths, is down to the talent management teams the AFL and the NRL use to book their half-time shows. The NRL has also looked to highlight local Australian acts in the past, including Amy Shark and Jimmy Barnes. 'Sony Music Australia have had a monopoly on the NRL in recent years, so that is why you are seeing a lot of their acts,' Griffiths told The Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile, talent and tour promoter Mushroom Group handle the AFL's Grand Final bookings. 'Mushroom have taken care of a lot of the AFL entertainment, and they are a tour promoter so you are seeing their gigantic names who are about to announce a tour or start a tour,' he added. While the NRL have looked to give Australian musicians the chance to take the stage at the Grand Final, Griffiths believes that this isn't always a good thing. Artists by year Year NRL AFL 2025 TBC Snoop Dogg 2024 The Kid Laroi Katy Perry 2023 Tina Turner musical Kiss 2022 JImmy Barnes Robbie Williams 2021 INXS Kate Miller-Heidke 2020 Amy Shark Electric Fields 2019 OneRepublic Tones and I 2018 Gang of Youths Jimmy Barnes and Black Eyed Peas 2017 Macklemore The Killers 2016 Keith Urban, Richie Sambora Vance Joy It is understood that the AFL's ability to pull in global superstars is due to the agents the league uses to book their talent 'I remember a few years ago they had Richie Sambora playing the grand final and a lot of people actually hated it, despite the fact he is a big name, a lot of people had a big problem with the fact it wasn't local but then you have the situation where they book the local acts and people go 'who is this'.' The other issue that both codes face is availability. Both the AFL and NRL are set to miss out this year on a plethora of big names travelling Down Under. Oasis have rocked the UK at the beginning of their reunion tour and are set to do so in Australia, as they travel down to Australia for shows at the end of October and early November, while Lenny Kravitz is also set to tour Down Under at the same time.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Tammy Hembrow slams interest in her romance with Bailey Smith - after the wannabe WAG was viciously trolled
Tammy Hembrow has slammed the 'boring' attention on her new romance with AFL star Bailey Smith. The fitness mogul, 31, shared a TikTok video on Tuesday that appeared to take aim at the intense interest the relationship has attracted since the pair went public with their blossoming courtship on Saturday. Hembrow sat in her car and mimed the words to a popular trending audio clip from the Barbie film. 'Don't be f***ing boring. This whole town is so f***ing boring. I don't care,' Tammy mouthed, while shooting bratty looks at the camera. Tammy was spotted cosying up to Bailey during a lunch date on the Gold Coast on Saturday – with the sports star, 24, flying in from Melbourne just to see her. Many trolls slammed the mother-of-three for moving on just weeks after confirming her split from her husband of seven months Matthew Zukowski. Tammy hit back at haters on Monday by posting a series of steamy selfies to Instagram and telling her followers to 'smile more'. 'Think we all need to smile a lil more okayyyy,' she wrote. In the photos, Tammy left little to the imagination as she went braless in a white crop top and a tiny denim skirt. Tammy came under fire from keyboard warriors on Monday over her new romance with AFL star Bailey. Trolls attacked the mother-of-three after she posted photos of a family outing on Instagram on Sunday. The gallery of heartwarming images featured Tammy and her brood visiting a market and enjoying a picnic. In one photo, Tammy can be seen posing with her children, son Wolf, nine, and daughters Posy, three, and Saskia, seven, ahead of their day out. Tammy hit back at haters on Monday by posting a series of steamy selfies to Instagram and telling her followers to 'smile more' Still, some followers saw the post as an opportunity to slam Tammy for her lifestyle choices. 'Another man in those poor kids' lives,' one troll complained. Another user came in with an even harsher comment, 'Now onto another man already? Yeah cos Bailey will be able to handle kids etc. Why not just focus on you?' 'The kids have a new dad every week haha,' said another follower. Meanwhile, some users commented on the fact that Bailey was absent from Tammy's latest outing. 'Where's BS,' asked one follower, while another commented nastily, 'Already dumped him.' 'Wonder if Mr Smith can produce kids... Watch this space,' another troll commented, referring to Zukowski, who has been open about his infertility struggles. Still, Tammy did have fans supporting her in the post. 'Say what you want, but she's the coolest mum. Proper,' said one follower. Another added, 'Girl ignore the hate we'd all be getting around Bailey if we could, such a slay by you.' Tammy stepped out with Bailey over the weekend – just days after claiming she was happily single following her shock split from husband Matthew. Two months after her break–up with the Love Island star, the fitness mogul enjoyed a lunch date with Bailey on Saturday. Bailey jetted back to Melbourne on Sunday to resume training ahead of Geelong's clash with the Swans at the SCG.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Chris Judd reveals the fork-in-the-road moment that put him on the road to riches
Idolised as one of the greatest AFL players to have graced the game, former West Coast and Carlton superstar Chris Judd has opened up on his life after footy, and what motivates him now. The two-time Brownlow Medallist hung up his boots in 2015 after a glittering 14-year career in footy's top flight. Since then, he has moved into the world of finance. He is the founder and director of Cerutty Macro Fund, an investment firm based in Melbourne that focuses on long-only equities. While he may now work in an office, instead of kicking a ball on a footy pitch, some elements of his professional AFL career have remained, including his early 5.30am wake-up call. Judd has always been an early riser, and the former midfielder starts his day by hitting the gym or going for a run before commuting to the office. The 41-year-old, who famously captained the Eagles to their 2006 premiership victory, has always held an interest in finance. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Finance Friends with Fabian (@financefriendspodcast) Speaking on the Finance Friends Podcast with Fabian Ruggieri, the 2005 Norm Smith medallist, revealed he had used one of his first pay cheques as an academy player to buy his first shares. 'I bought my first shares when I was 16,' the West Coast great told the podcast. 'I got some money from the AIS, an academy I was a part of. I looked at the old man and said: 'What should I do with that?' 'And he said: 'I don't know...' 'So we walked down to the news agency and got a shares magazine. 'And we bought shares. It was a toss-up between AWA, which was a small OEM manufacturer. 'Or Woolworths, actually!' 'We went with AWA, which fortuitously got bought out. It wasn't a great company but we got out of jail on that one. 'Woolworths would have been a good buy and hold from 26 years ago.' Judd, who was seen enjoying a vacation with his former team-mate Ben Cousins on Cable Beach in Western Australia last month, revealed that he hadn't necessarily grown up in a family who were that interested by finance, but added that his grandfather was very much into stocks and shares. 'I didn't grow up in a financial family at all. My parents had an interest in markets, my grandfather liked his stocks,' Judd said. 'So I'm not sure if the passion skipped a generation.' Judd, who made a cumulative 279 appearances for both the Eagles and the Blues, explained his naturally competitive personality, which he developed during his footy career, meant he was perfectly suited to a life in investment management. 'I think naturally competitive by nature, there's an attraction to listed equities where there's a real scoreboard every day,' the 41-year-old said. 'I'm not the sort of investor who says the scoreboard is wrong. That's the scoreboard and then you work out if you've won or not. There's something about accountability that I really enjoy.' 'I think that's the personality type. I score incredibly low on agreeability. Naturally, I am always urged to take the other side of someone's view, which can be an annoying trait if you live with someone. Judd (pictured right with Ben Cousins) won the 2006 AFL Grand Final with the West Coast before going on to play for Carlton 'As an investor, I think that's a useful characteristic. If you believed everything that a CEO told you when you meet with them, you'd be investing in every single company you ever met with. 'That high level of disagreeability and competitiveness, while annoying in some instances in life, is useful for professional sport and investing. 'Any time you invest you're essentially saying that the market is wrong - how arrogant is that. 'You're saying: 'The price that the market has given this asset is incorrect and I'm right because of XYZ'. So I think it's a really tough career path for people who are highly agreeable.'
