Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Olympics
Football
Netball
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Full Noise by SN
Bickley forecasts the Top 10 small forwards in 2026
SEN • February 26th, 2026 12:49 pm
Mark Bickley has predicted the Top 10 small forwards for season 2026.
This is Bickley’s forecast for the year ahead, listing who he believes will form the top group of smalls who operate in and around forward 50.
“I didn’t include the likes of Tyson Stengle and Bobby Hill who are out or away from their clubs at the moment,” Bickley said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“The thing I took into consideration is there are some small forwards that play as high half-forwards who do a lot of their work away from the goals. So I didn’t consider them either.”
See his list below:
10. Rhylee West (Western Bulldogs)
“He kicked 39 goals from 23 games. He goes in at 10.”
9. Charlie Cameron (Brisbane)
“He had nine or 10 games without a goal last year. He played 25 games for 32 goals, so a tad over a goal per game average.”
8. Paul Curtis (North Melbourne)
“He kicked 38 goals from 19 games, averaging two goals a game.”
7. Jack Higgins (St Kilda)
“Played a bit of a lone hand up forward, kicking 46 goals. He did very well for the Saints.”
6. Nick Watson (Hawthorn)
“This is a leap of faith but he gets better this year. 36 goals last year, and he’s still got a lot of blue sky in his game.”
5. Tom Papley (Sydney)
“Leap of faith here again. Only played 10 games, was injured for much of the year. With the Swans (likely) being better and a big forward like Charlie Curnow crashing packs there will be crumbs for Papley. He’ll be a very good player this year.”
4. Jamie Elliott (Collingwood)
“Elliott kicked the most goals of all small forwards last year with 60 goals. But I’ve got three ahead of him.”
3. Toby Greene (GWS)
“41 goals last year, played a bit of time on-ball as well. He is a star. Cannot discount him.”
2. Izak Rankine (Adelaide)
“31 goals last year, but in terms of impact when he played forward, there are very few who I have ahead of him. He polled the most Brownlow votes of any small forward with 15.”
1. Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
“The number one small forward in the game for this year I’ve got as Kozzie Pickett. He is electrifying, kicks big bags of goals, kicked 40 last year, polled 10 Brownlow votes. Onwards and upwards this year.”
