With eight rounds of football officially in the books for the 2023 AFL season, plenty of players have made their mark on the competition already.
Young Pie Nick Daicos has emerged as a Brownlow favourite in just his second season and looks to be topping Collingwood's best and fairest count, while plenty of others have had standout seasons for their clubs.
After nearly two months of footy, we've taken a look at where each club's best and fairest count stands, naming the favourites for the award so far, with part three of the series covering Port Adelaide through to the Western Bulldogs.
READ PART 1 HERE
READ PART 2 HERE
In one of their most anticipated seasons in history, Port Adelaide have responded to the pre-season pressure in style, currently sitting fifth on the ladder with six wins from eight matches, including a five-game win streak.
The individual production coming out of Port Adelaide has seen a variety of players come into contention for this year's best and fairest, and it may be one of the closest counts yet.
Connor Rozee may be leading the way at the moment with his consistency through eight weeks, to go with some outright dominant performances. The 2022 All-Australian member has proven that he is capable of building into a season and may tear some games apart toward the business end. His 24 disposals per game and persistent threat forward of centre has been crucial.
However, the Power have been littered with improved performers this season, including Zak Butters, Aliir Aliir, Dan Houston, Charlie Dixon, Jeremy Finlayson, Jason Horne-Francis and Sam Powell-Pepper.
Some, like Horne-Francis and Butters, will benefit from individual brilliance in particular games which may earn them bulk votes. Others will benefit from their consistency and importance in particular matchups and moments.
In a forgettable year thus far for the Tigers, one player has stood out and established himself as one of the toughest stars in the competition.
Liam Baker may be an All-Australian contender by season's end, and he looks like one of a few ar Richmond at the moment. Playing as a small defender, Baker has made the most of his relatively light frame with his hardness and skill, rating elite for contested possessions and ground ball gets. Much of his value also comes from his ability to shift forward and slot important goals in big moments. Out of defence he still finds a way to impact scoring with over five score involvements per game, which is quickly becoming a premium for the Tigers in 2023.
While the talk of the town regarding Tim Taranto has involved his poor execution by foot this season, he has still been the contested and clearance beast that the Tigers were hoping for this season. Averaging 30 disposals and nearly seven clearances and tackles this season, he is probably Richmond's only other contender for their best & fairest award.
One player who has shockingly gone under the radar this season, however, is Dustin Martin. As a pure forward in 2023, his 21 disposals and seven ground ball gets per game have not been recognised in the way they would have in past seasons, but may earn him plenty of votes at the end of Richmond's campaign.
Conversely to Richmond, St Kilda have enjoyed a surprisingly hot start to their second stint under Ross Lyon, sitting in the top four after eight matches, albeit after two dour showings against Port Adelaide and North Melbourne.
The Saints are another side with plenty of best & fairest contention roaming around, and All-Australian Jack Sinclair as the probable front-runner.
With over 28 disposals per game, it is the damage with ball in hand, line-breaking and intercepting ability that has him regarded as one of the competition's best attacking defenders and a threat to every opposition.
Off the wing, Mason Wood has potentially led the vote count through the first six or seven matches, playing essentially every role on the field thanks to his elite work rate. When helping out in defence, he showcases his dominant aerial ability. Through the middle, his ball use and pressure is top quality. Up forward, he is a constant threat with his ability to ping it from outside 50 at any time. He looks a likely candidate for an All-Australian wing position as well as a best & fairest contender if he can sustain his performance so far.
Behind these two, Callum Wilkie is a third All-Australian candidate thanks to his defensive dominance so far this season. While he was already elite last year, he has evidently taken his game to another level under Lyon, winning more contests and hitting more targets than previously.
Finally, Mitch Owens is a real smokey for the Rising Star Award after his start to the season. His four goals against Gold Coast came in a clear-cut best-on-ground performance and he has already become a valuable utility in this young Saints side. Playing ruck one week and forward the next, he is quickly developing into one of the most versatile players in the AFL and a potential superstar of the future.
Last year's grand finalists started the season well with two easy kills against Gold Coast and Hawthorn, but have since fallen off a cliff with drastic injury woes and poor late game execution.
Their most important player this season has proven to be Dane Rampe, given their perpetual struggles with him out of the lineup. With only four matches under his belt this season, he won't be reeling in any end-of-season honours at this stage.
Errol Gulden is probably leading the charge after improving from his breakout season last year. He was extraordinary against Collingwood on Sunday with 37 disposals and 13 marks and will hopefully only get better as Sydney progress through the season. He has stood up in every game with only one notably poor performance in a 97-point beat-up at the hands of Geelong.
Jake Lloyd is one of the few others who have improved from last year at the Swans; his 24 disposals at over 88% efficiency has been valuable out of defence. Besides he, Gulden and Oliver Florent, few Swans can claim they have undoubtedly improved from last season.
Callum Mills, Chad Warner, Luke Parker and Tom Papley, have all been elite in patches and solid overall, but should be looking to increase their production through the next few weeks.
As predicted by many, the Eagles have quickly emerged as wooden spoon contenders after some deplorable showings to kick off the season, recently falling to Carlton by 108 points at home.
While they have been cursed with injury for some time now, it seems no one has stood up in the absence of their stars, with the exception of Tim Kelly, Oscar Allen and Jamaine Jones.
Kelly's 29 disposals and seven score involvements per game have been very impressive given the deflated numbers at West Coast and his 10.3 ground ball gets are the second best in the competition. He should be leading the best & fairest charge at this point of the season.
If not however, Oscar Allen has been one of the feel-good stories of the year after missing the entirety of last season and would deserve the best & fairest honours if it was awarded to him. After eight rounds, he and Jeremy Cameron are the only two players with two or more goals in each match, which is quite frankly an astonishing feat in this Eagles side.
Lastly, Jamaine Jones is having a breakout season off half-back, providing a rare dash through the middle of the ground for the Eagles and operating at a rate of 21 disposals and four score involvement per game.
In a season that started poorly but has since developed well, Marcus Bontempelli has been the one constant and may well end the season with a Brownlow around his neck.
At the moment, Bont is having a clear-cut career-best season and should slot well within everybody's 'top 5 players in the comp' list. With the departure of Josh Dunkley, he has been forced to improve his clearance game, which he has done in spades, averaging 8.9 per game and taking control of matches with his uncanny knack to win them at crucial stages.
Another notable contender at the moment is Tim English, who has emerged as the most dynamic and versatile ruckman in the competition. For his position, he ranks elite for disposals, marks, intercepts and tackling while posing a notable scoring threat with six goals on the year and over five score involvements per game.
Tom Liberatore is another midfielder to have benefited from Josh Dunkley's departure with his increased disposal rate and improved impact per possession. He has also become one of the league's best tacklers and is one of three players to apply more than 30 pressure acts per game. He is a fan favourite who may receive more plaudits come finals time when his game shines further.
Finally, Adam Treloar and Aaron Naughton round out the notable contenders for the Bulldogs' best & fairest given their consistent quality thus far.