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Luke Hodge’s top five captains in the AFL right now
SEN • June 3rd, 2025 12:47 pm
Premiership captain Luke Hodge has named his top five captains in the AFL right now.
The four-time Hawthorn premiership player (three as captain) has dissected each of the current skippers and ranked them from 1 to 5 at the halfway point of the 2025 season.
Hodge has used a slightly different criteria this year, ruling out captains whose teams sit outside the top 10 on the ladder meaning the likes of Max Gawn, Patrick Cripps and Jack Steele have not been considered.
See Hodge’s top five (and one apology) below:
Apology: Toby Greene (GWS)
“I’ve got him at 6. GWS not firing as well (as they’d like),” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“He's had his games where he's been really good, but the consistency side of things - I know playing that position is very hard, but I couldn't get him into my top five.”
5 - Darcy Moore (Collingwood)
“People sort of sit back and go, ‘well, he's not in the coaches awards, he's not having the impact that all the others have’.
“But what I do see him do from behind, controlling other people, he makes people around him better.
“Nick Daicos doesn't have to run back and defend as hard as what other midfielders do because they know they’ve got Darcy Moore playing assertive, he directs Jeremy Howe and all the others.
“His impact to make other people better are the reason why they're sitting on top of the ladder. People might say you should have him higher because of how he does do that, and I can't fault that argument.
“But with how good the other captains have been going, I've got Darcy Moore sitting at fifth.”
4 - Zach Merrett (Essendon)
“Personally, I think he's having a really good year, but you need to make sure that you're doing everything possible to help the other guys develop.
“I think the role of him now is to sit back and go, ‘How can I help these other guys?’ What can he do to help the rest of them?
“But personally, he's having a really good year, so I've got him snuck in at fourth.”
3 - Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
“People will argue with this one. He's only played the six games to date, but his impact is outstanding.
“Since he's come in, they've won four games from six. They've only lost to Gold Coast and Geelong last week down at The Cattery.
“He started with a surge, having a real big impact to start with. He's averaging the 25 disposals, he's averaging over a goal a game.
“When he does get the ball, he's averaging the highest out of all the captains with score involvements. He's got almost 10 score involvements a game.
“So it just proves that the impact that he has when he gets the ball, it leads into something. It's not these cheap little touches, which is to just get the stats up.
“The fact that they've won the four out of six with him in the team and they look dominant. With how many senior players they've got out of the side for them to be sitting in their position on the verge of the eight as well.
“So I've snuck 'Bont' in for third.”
2 - Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
“I reckon he was in my top five last year and just slipped out towards the end.
“The big thing about a captain is making sure that everyone understands their role, whether you're playing a good game or a bad game.
“I just like the way he's going about it. He's happy to go and push forward to hit the scoreboard.
“He's happy to play different roles. We've seen him across half-back, we've seen him inside. His flexibility, but his selfless mindset is a big reason why the Crows are sitting in third position.
“He’s proving that selfless mindset, because if the skipper's doing it, guess what, everyone else has to follow suit.
“There's no doubt why they've jumped up to the position where they are.”
1 - Noah Anderson (Gold Coast)
“This bloke is impressive. I saw a bit of vision on the weekend where Noah Anderson was in an inside 45 kick, sitting inside 50.
“His teammate panicked because he's under a little bit of pressure. He should've hit that lower kick to Noah. He's gone to the top of the goal square.
“What do you normally see players do, especially if they've got a chance to kick a goal? Turn around, throw their arms up.
“Noah turns around, just runs straight to the next contest because he's not there about himself. He's there to play his role.
“If he gets bypassed getting a touch, he doesn't care because he knows the next contest is more important than the contest that was just had.
“I’ve got him a long way in front at number one. Just the fact that the maturity, he's leading this young side, they're sitting fourth on the ladder and they've still got a game in hand.
“His consistency, getting over 30 touches, he's inside 50, he's getting it deep in there. Just the work ethic - if you go and watch Noah Anderson play football, he works just as hard back into D50 to help out his forwards, and then he'll work forward to be of support for the rest of the guys.
“And I'll tell you what, as a young player going through, they've got an absolute ripping captain up there at Gold Coast.”
Listen to Hodge's captaincy assessment below:
