Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Netball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Important SN update for SouthlandWhy key forwards are the rockstars of footy
SEN • May 14th, 2025 6:27 pm
The ball magnets and their eye-popping stats are nice and might help you win at AFL Fantasy.
Your team probably can't win a flag without a proper key defender or two. But are they sexy? No. Do they drag fans through the gates? Nup.
It is the key forwards who are the rockstars of footy. Always were. Always will be.
And in 2025 we might be on the verge of the next era of great full-forwards who are kicking bags of snags every week.
Who are they? What are their stories?
TEX, FOG & FILTHY - ADELAIDE’S THREE-HEADED MONSTER
It is said having three tall forwards in modern football doesn’t work, but these Adelaide monsters have proven everyone wrong. They’ve led the way for the Crows to become the competition’s highest scorers, collectively booting 61 of their 137 goals.
The veteran monster, Taylor ‘Tex’ Walker, keeps proving the doubters wrong. After facing criticism last year, he’s put in a massive pre-season and is now flourishing with emerging players around him. He has wound back the clock and led from the front, booting 17 goals so far this season.
The sharpshooting monster, Darcy Fogarty, keeps doing what he does best – kick goals. He has nailed two-plus goals in 18 of his past 23 games at Adelaide Oval, becoming a specialist at the venue. And the best part about it? He doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.
The colossal monster, Riley Thilthorpe, returned from knee surgery as an absolute man-mountain, weighing in at 110kg. Since his return, he has absolutely ripped the game apart, bagging 23 goals and providing 11 goal assists this season.
This three-headed monster is the real deal and tears opposite teams apart. When the Crows’ midfield is up and about the forwards are more than a handful for the opposition, and they are dragging the fans through the Adelaide Oval gates.
Connor Scanlon
BEN KING - IS THE DEBATE SETTLED ABOUT WHO THE BEST KING BROTHER IS?
As a junior, Max King was always touted as the better King brother, even forcing his twin, Ben, to play as a key defender during their Haileybury College days. It is why Max was taken ahead of Ben in the 2018 draft at pick No. 4 by St Kilda, despite carrying an ACL injury.
Fast forward to 2025 and the Saints may be licking their wounds for not taking Ben King instead. The big Sun has booted 27 goals this year and is looking to build on his impressive 55-goal 2024.
Unlike his brother, Ben has managed to stay healthy in recent years, playing 50 games since the start of 2023 and booting an elite 122 goals in that time. He’s averaging more than two per game in that time, making him one of the AFL’s premier key forwards.
Ben has taken full advantage of the Suns’ dominant midfield led by Matt Rowell, Touk Miller and Noah Anderson, averaging 3.3 marks inside 50 this season, and being one of the favourites for the Coleman Medal.
Connor Scanlon
JOSH TREACY - THE BEST KEY FORWARD YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
After his top underage year at the Bendigo Pioneers was wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dockers took a punt on at Pick 7 in the 2020 Rookie Draft.
After a solid first season that saw him play 15 games, his second year was hampered by groin and ankle injuries as well as glandular fever. After a much more consistent 2023, Treacy broke through with 45 goals last year in 20 games to be Fremantle’s leading goalkicker and finish eighth in the Coleman Medal.
The ‘Big Cohuna’ has had a blistering start to 2025, becoming part of the leadership group and kicking six goals in the Gather Round win over Richmond and now has have 22 in nine games.
He looks to be the answer to Fremantle’s key forward struggles. Since Matthew Pavlich retired at the end of 2016, no one has been able to step up and lead Freo’s forward line, with Jesse Hogan, Rory Lobb and Matt Taberner unable to make their mark.
With Treacy solidifying his spot as a game changer, the Dockers appear to have finally been able to fill that void.
Luke Mathews
NICK LARKEY - KANGAS ARE BATTLING; HE’S NOT
Despite being the focal point of North Melbourne’s forward line for many years, Larkey was plucked from obscurity in 2016 when the Kangaroos took him at Pick 73. After spending four years under the tutelage of Ben Brown, Larkey assumed the role as the main target in North’s forward line at the end of 2020 and has since become the club’s star attraction.
He was rewarded with All-Australian selection in 2023 after a year that yielded 71 goals despite the team finishing 17th. Unlike many of the competition’s key forwards, Larkey, 26, has spent most of his career playing in teams that have finished in the bottom two, but the vice-captain’s output has been a shining light.
Remarkably, Larkey has booted 218 goals since the start of 2021, keeping pace with the likes of Jeremy Cameron (241) and Charlie Cameron (220), who have played in premierships, as well as dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow (222).
Once the Kangaroos finally start to make their highly anticipated rise up the ladder, Larkey should have the benefit of frequent supply and dynamic ball use. Try stopping him then.
Luke Mathews
JESSE HOGAN - WITH EXPERIENCE COMES WISDOM
After back-to-back 40-plus goal seasons in his first two years at Melbourne and winning the 2015 Rising Star, Hogan looked set to be the front man for the Demons’ forward line for the next decade.
But constant injury issues, the death of his father Tony and then being diagnosed with testicular cancer saw Hogan struggle to find consistency. He eventually requested a trade to Fremantle in 2018 and Dockers fans hoped they had found the heir apparent to Matthew Pavlich.
But Hogan was far from it and on reflection admitted he shouldn’t have moved back to his home state.
But Hogan was far from it and on reflection admitted he shouldn’t have moved back to his home state.
Looking like becoming one of football’s biggest ‘what-ifs’, he was given a lifeline by GWS in 2020, which only needed to part with Pick 48 for his services, as the Giants looked to fill the Jeremy Cameron void. And he certainly filled it.
In his comeback tour at GWS, he is playing all the hits that made him an early star at Melbourne, dominating defenders for fun, which culminated in a remarkable Coleman Medal and 77 goals for the season last year.
And just like his goal song by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, it looks like Hogan Can’t Stop, as he sits third all-time for goals scored in Giants’ history and is one of the premier key forwards in the AFL.
Nicholas Quinlan
SAM DARCY - WILL HE BE THE BEST OF THEM ALL?
The sublimely talented Darcy could be the centrepiece for this topic. He is the type of player who puts bums on seats with his authoritative aerial ability and his penchant for booting a big goal.
While the term ‘unicorn’ gets thrown around a bit, it perfectly suits Darcy given he is 208cm but moves like a gazelle … what sort of wiry two-metre footballer can use his opposite foot as he pleases and still produce a laser-like shoe?
The impact he has on the Bulldogs has already been likened to a young Wayne Carey. The excitement surrounding Darcy whenever the ball goes in his direction is of a similar nature.
Darcy’s knee injury is untimely for the Bulldogs, but he escaped the dreaded ACL and will be back later in the year, perhaps for a finals campaign. Wouldn’t he be a delight to see in a massive final in the red, white and blue?
There is no doubting his ability and his standing in the game will only increase as he continues to mature and develop his craft.
Darcy has the attributes that could make him the best of all when it comes to key forwards.
Andrew Slevison
THE BEST OF THE REST
There was a gaping Tom Hawkins-sized hole in the Geelong forward line when the 796-goal veteran walked away last season. Jeremy Cameron’s presence has always been seen as the best way to offset that, but Chris Scott has had other ideas – sending Patrick Dangerfield forward.
So far it was worked a treat with the ‘Danger-Jezza’ combination yielding 37 goals in 2025.
So far it was worked a treat with the ‘Danger-Jezza’ combination yielding 37 goals in 2025.
With three Coleman Medals between them, you’d be foolish to underestimate Carlton’s Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay. This season has not panned out perfectly for the pair yet, however you get the feeling Curnow is finding his groove and McKay will only improve.
Mitch Georgiades is leading the line at Port Adelaide after the retirement of Charlie Dixon. He’s had to shoulder more of the load since Todd Marshall succumbed to an achilles injury and he’s growing each week.
Jack Gunston wound the clock back late last year and has continued that trend early in 2025.
Already 23 goals including a bag of six is a great result in the absence of Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear. Mabior Chol is also doing plenty of heavy lifting at the Hawks.
Already 23 goals including a bag of six is a great result in the absence of Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear. Mabior Chol is also doing plenty of heavy lifting at the Hawks.
Aaron Naughton has found some form and the Dogs are going to need him to fire now Darcy is sidelined.
There is still some life left in Tom Lynch, who has been dubbed the ‘Godfather’ of the youthful Richmond forward line while Brisbane Lion Eric Hipwood is in great goalkicking form of late for the reigning premiers.
Andrew Slevison
