GOLD Coast forward Tom Lynch's brilliant 2016 form sees him rise to No.40 in the Schick AFL Player Ratings, and, as a key forward, he is only outranked by superstar Swan Lance Franklin and injured Hawk Jarryd Roughead.

Lynch has moved ahead of last year's Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy (ranked 41), premiership Hawk Jack Gunston (44) and Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt (45).

Lynch is leading this year's Coleman Medal race with 18 goals. Buddy and North Melbourne's Jarrad Waite trail him on 16.

One of Gold Coast's three vice-captains, Lynch started the year ranked at No.58.

His ranking as a key forward has improved from seventh to third.

Despite his hot start to the year, Lynch is the third-ranked key forward when only taking into account this season's games.

Waite is the clear No.1 for 2016 with an average of 20.6 rating points.

Franklin is second on 16.5 points, while Lynch is 16.4.

West Coast pair Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling round out the top five.

Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli is another young star to hit new heights, rising to a career-high No. 8.

The Bulldog passed Geelong skipper Joel Selwood in the process.

Bontempelli played the 41st match of his career against Carlton in round four. The Schick AFL Player Ratings take into account a player's past 40 games, meaning he only just reached the number of games necessary to make an accurate judgement of a player.

He is averaging a tick over 18 disposals a game in 2016 and has kicked five goals from his four games.

His ranking is the highest ever recorded for someone under 21.

The next best ranking at that age was Port Adelaide forward Chad Wingard, who achieved a ranking of 24.

The Schick AFL Player Ratings started being recorded in 2010.