In round seven 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.
Click here to see all the players and their Official AFL Player Rating
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 Tuesday, May 13.
KEY MATCH-UPS THIS WEEKEND Friday night's Geelong v Essendon clash will see Joel Selwood, the No.3 player in the ratings, do battle with Jobe Watson, who is No.7. Both players slipped a spot in the ratings this week, so they'll need good performances to ensure they don't slip further down the order.
The top two rated forwards, Hawthorn's Lance Franklin (No.12 overall) and Sydney Swans veteran Adam Goodes (No.15 overall) will be in action at the MCG in Saturday night's meeting between last year's grand finalists. Franklin has fallen out of the top 10 in recent weeks, while Goodes remains comfortably inside the top 20.
The AFL's No.3 ranked player faces off against No.7 when the Cats and Dons clash. Picture: AFL Media
PLAYERS ON THE UP
Sydney Swans midfielder Josh Kennedy has surged from No.9 to No.2 in the past three weeks. The main reason is that his lower-scoring games back in 2011 are starting to be removed from his 40-game block or are now attracting a lesser weighting.
PLAYERS WHO NEED TO LIFT
Carlton star Chris Judd is currently rated the 14th-best player in the AFL, but he is the opposite to Kennedy when it comes to how he is tracking long-term. He was at his prolific best back in 2011, and the scores he amassed in that year are now losing their weighting. He has not been as prolific in 2013, so unless he starts stringing together some big games in the near future his position in the top 20 will soon be in jeopardy.
TWITTER CHATTER
There's been plenty of talk in the Twitterverse about Cyril Rioli being rated No.5 in the competition, including this correspondence from @MGoss94, who Tweeted: "@AFL putting Cyril #5 on their player rankings above Jobe?"
The key thing to remember here is that the Official AFL Player Ratings are designed to measure a player's impact during a game. When it comes to Rioli, his kicking efficiency was the best of the top-80 ballwinners in 2012. And when Rioli kicked the ball into the forward line, he found a mark 31 per cent of the time. The Hawthorn star also ranked first in the competition for tackles laid inside the forward 50 (of players to play five or more games) and score assists. In addition, his accuracy when kicking for goal is very high.
*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.
