WELCOME back to The 25.

Every month throughout 2025, AFL.com.au will rank the best 25 players in the AFL competition, based both on recent form and a body of work across previous seasons.

Having watched the first 22 rounds of the season, our panel of journalists and experts have come up with the list of 25 for August.

There are four new faces this month compared to the July list while some massive names – Patrick Cripps, Christian Petracca, Zach Merrett and Jesse Hogan – have all dropped out after being unable to maintain their high standards of previous years.

Did we get it right? Who should be higher, or lower? Take a look below and have your say on social media.

The classy Swans left-footer is back on the park and has largely picked up where he left off before his season was ruined by injury. Gulden’s ability to hurt the opposition with his run and carry and precise ball use was missed by Sydney through the first half of 2025, and the Swans have been a different side since they’ve had him back. Gulden started the year at No.11 in The 25 and look out for him to continue his climb back up the list in the final rounds of the season.

The Giants key defender’s season was interrupted by a recent four-game absence due to a fractured toe. But Taylor remains one of the League’s leading defenders thanks to his ability to win contests and take intercept marks. Taylor leads the competition for average intercept marks in 2025 with 3.8, and will be a key player for the Giants in the business end of the season.

The dynamic Demon is one of the competition’s most damaging players on his day and is enjoying a career-best season. Pickett has exploded with more midfield time in 2025 and has three games this season in which he has had 20 or more disposals and kicked five goals. His composure and decision making has made him the Demon to look out for this year in a disappointing season for his club.

As Adelaide’s forward line continues to make its mark this year, it’s been the form of Thilthorpe that has shone the brightest. Not only has the 23-year-old kicked 51 goals, but his presence and contested marking have helped the Crows to the top of the ladder. Only Max Gawn and Sam Darcy have taken more contested marks than Thilthorpe this season, showing just what kind of a presence Thilthorpe has been.

The Crows livewire is spending less time in the midfield than early in the year, but Rankine continues to show why he is among the game’s elite with his ability to do maximum damage inside 50. He kicked a season-high five goals against Melbourne in round 17 and then booted three, to go with three goal assists, in a crucial win over Hawthorn four weeks later. And as if to remind the competition of what he can do as a midfielder, Rankine – moved into the middle – had 20 disposals and kicked a goal in the second half last week to help the Crows avoid an upset loss to West Coast.

The Swans speedster continues to cause opposition sides plenty of problems, even if he hasn’t quite reached the heights of last season. Warner’s ability to break lines through the middle of the ground is crucial for the Swans and he is enjoying another consistent season, averaging 22.4 disposals, 4.7 clearances, 3.9 marks and 3.4 tackles this year. After a sluggish month, he was back to his best against the Lions in round 22.

The Bulldogs midfielder continues to be one of the most damaging players in the competition. Richards leads the League for goal assists this season, ahead of superstar teammate Marcus Bontempelli, showing just how big an impact he is having for the finals-chasing Bulldogs. He has had 30 or more disposals in only four games this season, highlighting his ability to impact even without racking up monster disposal numbers.

Greene is enjoying another consistent season, with the Giants star taking his tally for the season to 35 goals in 20 games after kicking three against North Melbourne on Sunday. While he hasn’t truly taken over a game since early in the season, Greene remains one of the most dangerous smalls in the competition, and his ability to turn a match on its head in just a quarter is still there.

The star Docker is enjoying the best season of his career as a versatile tall who can cause damage in numerous ways. Jackson is being used in the ruck, as a big-bodied midfielder or as a forward and showing he can have an impact wherever he is playing. Jackson has had 20-plus disposals in eight games in 2025 and kicked at least a goal in 11, and will be a key player as the Dockers charge towards September.

The Cats star continues to hurt opposition teams with his incredible running power. Holmes has shown he can have an impact on the inside – he has 12 games this year in which he has had five or more clearances – but it’s when he gets on the outside that he is at his best. His ability to run and carry and provide a connection between the defence and forward line have put him among the game’s elite in 2025.

The Suns’ midfield bull just keeps getting the job done. Rowell is averaging career-highs for disposals (26.1), tackles (9.2) and clearances (8.8) this year, showing he has taken his game to another level. He is hard to tackle and has formed a devastating combination with Noah Anderson that is set to propel Gold Coast to a first ever finals appearance.

That McCluggage has surged to within three places of his superstar Lions teammate Lachie Neale on this list tells you a lot about just how good the midfielder has been this season. With his ability to do huge damage on the outside, some would argue McCluggage is now Brisbane’s most important player as he enjoys the best season of his career, averaging career-highs for disposals (26.8), clearances (5.9) and tackles (4.9), while also kicking 10 or more goals for the fifth consecutive season.

The hard-running Cat leads the AFL for average disposals, collecting 31.6 touches per game as he continues his incredible return from a year out with a knee injury. Remarkably, he is averaging a career-high 5.1 tackles per game, combining defensive intent with his renowned attacking prowess. In his first year at Geelong, Smith has surpassed the level of impact he made in his best seasons at the Western Bulldogs, when he threatened to become one the game’s most damaging midfielders. As a proven finals performer, he is set to further elevate his standing in the Cats’ September campaign.

In a difficult season for the Demons, Gawn has again been a tower of strength and is on track to claim an eighth All-Australian blazer. The 33-year-old is averaging a career-best 20.2 disposals and 5.7 marks per game, and his hitout numbers are the highest they’ve been since 2018. Given the on-field woes that have beset his team and last week ended the tenure of premiership coach Simon Goodwin, it is astonishing that Gawn continues to produce at a such a high level in his 16th season on an AFL list.

The Lions champion’s slide down these rankings is due as much to his own exceptional standards as anything else. He is averaging a tick over 27 disposals a game and a still-strong 6.4 clearances per game, although those clearance stats are a touch off the 7.8 average he’s managed across the past three years. A quad injury has ruled him out of the rest of the home and away season in a blow to Brisbane’s hopes of shoring up a finals berth sooner rather than later.

The Dockers gun has played a key role in Fremantle’s charge towards finals in 2025. Only Matt Rowell (177) has more clearances than Serong (169) this year, and the latter is nine clear at the top for centre clearances, crucially giving the Dockers first looks out of the middle. Serong’s influence has been enormous for the Dockers, who have struggled when he has been tagged, most notably in the round 17 loss to Sydney (11 disposals) and the tough win over Carlton in round 21 (19 disposals).

The Suns captain is set to be right in the Brownlow Medal mix in 2025 such has been his dominance in the middle for Gold Coast. Anderson has the Suns on the verge of playing finals for the first time and while it has been a consistent season for the midfielder, his impact in a couple of big games in the past month has been notable. Anderson starred in big clashes against Collingwood (32 disposals, eight clearances and a goal) and Brisbane (33, five and one) to stamp his mark on the competition.

The Crows skipper is on the verge of a possibly career-defining six weeks given he is firmly in contention for the Brownlow and the All-Australian captaincy and his club a red-hot chance of a premiership. Dawson started the year outside The 25 but has gradually surged up the list after a brilliant season. His versatility makes him a constant threat; on the rare day this year where he’s not impacted in midfield, his ability to be a presence forward and take crucial marks means you can’t keep your eyes off him.

Into the top 10 with an absolute bullet, the Saints star is arguably the hottest player in the game right now. His heroics against Melbourne will never be forgotten, but it was merely the high point of an extraordinary run of form since he has shifted into the midfield in recent weeks. A dominant half-back, a prolific ball-winner in the middle and able to hit the scoreboard up forward – is there anything he can’t do?

He has not quite hit the heights of last season, but that says more about Isaac Heeney’s heroics in 2024 than it does about his performances this year. His best-on-ground performances against Carlton, Port Adelaide and particularly North Melbourne have been amongst the best individual games of the season, while his five-goal performance in Brisbane at the weekend was Heeney at his destructive best. He remains an undoubted match-winner so he deserves to remain high on this list.

Despite being stifled of the game against Geelong due to an outstanding shutdown job from Oisin Mullin, Butters continues to be a shining light for the Power in a difficult season. The midfielder is averaging 27.5 disposals a game and has responded well after an injury-hit start to the season. Speculation about his playing future continues to swirl, and it’s easy to see why.

The Bulldog is enjoying the best season of his career and has moved onto 45 goals in 15 games this year. Darcy’s incredible reach makes him hard to stop, and even All-Australian defender Sam Taylor struggled as the forward kicked five goals against Greater Western Sydney in round 21. Darcy is also incredibly athletic and can impact as a ruck around the ball, while he took one of the most courageous marks of the year to help the Dogs hold on against Melbourne on Sunday.

After kicking 20 goals in his first nine games this season, Cameron has struck the richest vein of form of his decorated career and thoroughly deserves his place on the podium in this edition of The 25. Since round 10, he has booted 59 goals in 12 games – including hauls of 11, seven and three bags of six – for a season total of 79. He is all but certain to claim his second Coleman Medal, sitting 22 goals clear of Gold Coast’s Ben King, and the mythical 100-goal mark is not out of reach if the Cats go deep into finals.

While the superstar Magpie has slowed down in the past fortnight, Daicos was at his dominant best after Collingwood’s mid-season bye. He had huge games against Fremantle (43 disposals, eight clearances and seven tackles) and Richmond (42 and three goals) to again demonstrate that at his best, he is almost impossible to stop. If the Pies are to get their season back on track, Daicos is set to be at the centre of it.

You could flip a coin between Daicos and Bontempelli for the title of the best in the game, but we’ve got the Bulldogs skipper slightly ahead for the second month in a row. The likes of Naughton, Darcy and Richards have taken most of the limelight at the Bulldogs this year, but the Bont has also been a constant threat and has picked up hauls of 37, 35 and 33 disposals in the past month. If the Dogs are to surge into September, it will be on the back of this man.