The AFL Rookie Rankings are back for 2023, where we order the top six in-form debutants of the year each week as the season progresses.
Collingwood's Nick Daicos took out the 2022 Zero Hanger Rookie Rankings thanks to an unmatched debut season, claiming the crown ahead of Bomber Nic Martin and Saint Marcus Windhager.
So far this season, a first-round Roos draftee has staged a brilliant start to his rookie campaign, while a father-son Lion has made his maiden appearance in our rankings.
Criteria: For our Rookie Rankings, we are selecting players who have made their debut this season. Other players who may still be eligible for a Rising Star nomination but have already made their debut prior to the 2023 season will not be considered.
I.e. players such as Sam Darcy, Finn Callaghan and Jye Amiss are ineligible, having already played an AFL match prior to Round 1, 2023.
4. Reuben Ginbey (-)
West Coast's Reuben Ginbey stays put at No. 4 after another solid showing in a Round 2 win over the GWS Giants.
It doesn't take a long look at Ginbey to be able to determine that he possesses an ideal physical frame for an AFL midfielder. The 18-year-old, standing at a towering 189 centimetres and weighing in at a proportionate 82 kilograms, already boasts a goliath stature for a rookie, and he has put that stature to prominent use throughout his first pair of league outings.
Ginbey, while he hasn't started out as a ball-winning machine (16 possessions per game), has laid a total of 18 tackles across just two matches, which averages out to nine per game. Those figures rank tops across the entire competition to begin the season.
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
The East Perth product isn't afraid to assert his physicality, and that is a welcomed attitude amongst an Eagles side that was categorically outmuscled around the contest last season and again to begin the new year.
