In round nine some of the highest-rated players will be going head-to-head, while many players have the chance to dramatically improve their ratings with good performances.
On the flipside, a number of players need to be near their best or they will slide down the pecking order when the updated ratings are released on Monday, May 27.
KEY MATCH-UPS THIS WEEKEND
There will be plenty of interesting battles in Friday night's clash between Collingwood and the Sydney Swans at the MCG.
The game will feature two of the best forwards in the competition, with Adam Goodes (No. 2 among forwards and No. 16 overall) in action for the Swans and Travis Cloke (No. 12 among forwards and No. 79 overall) holding down the key attacking post for the Magpies.
Swans defender Ted Richards, who is currently rated the 14th-best defender, is likely to start on Cloke.
Saturday night's Dreamtime at the 'G game will see a clash of the quality ruckmen, with Essendon duo Paddy Ryder (No. 4 among ruckmen and No. 84 overall) and Tom Bellchambers (No. 18 among ruckmen and No. 255 overall) taking on Richmond big man Ivan Maric (No. 6 among ruckmen and No. 106 overall).
PLAYERS ON THE UP
Geelong defender Jackson Thurlow has flown up the charts since making his debut for the Cats against Essendon in round seven. Thurlow gathered 16 possessions in last weekend's narrow loss to Collingwood, a haul that helped him jump 43 places to No. 610 in the overall ratings.
PLAYERS WHO NEED TO LIFT
West Coast forward Mark LeCras has booted 14 goals in seven games this season, but his points tally is falling because his scores from 2011 are being dropped from his running total. The fact LeCras missed all of last season after injuring his knee also goes against him. LeCras dropped 34 places following round eight, which means he now sits at No. 219 in the overall ratings.
TWITTER CHATTER
There has been plenty of talk about the Official AFL Player Ratings in the Twitterverse, including this tweet from Saints fan @bendavies1980, who wrote "Clint Jones should … be much higher as a reward for his outstanding tagging ability".
Clint Jones is currently rated the 96th-best midfielder in the competition and the 179th-best player overall. The issue for Jones is that the ratings algorithm measures each player's impact on the game in terms of their contribution to scoring chains.
It cannot measure what Jones' opponents are unable to do because of the pressure that he applies to them.
* Keep in mind that although the Official AFL Player Ratings, brought to you by Vero, only recently went live on AFL.com.au, Champion Data has been collecting the requisite information since 2007.
