Best Defensive players by Season Rating in A-League 25/26

The best defensive players in A-League in 25/26, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in A-League Best defensive defenders in A-League Best defensive midfielders in A-League Best defensive attackers in A-League Best players in A-League Most in-form players in A-League

At a glance

M. Ilic of Brisbane Roar is the standout for raw talent across players in A-League, with a Field Insider Rating of 35.8, and D. Genreau has been the form player this season, grading 47.6, and S. Cosgrove leads the scoring with 12 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: D. Genreau has improved his Season rating most, up +45 on last season. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, N. Milanovic of Western Sydney Wanderers is the most valuable name in this group at 1.4.

Auckland · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

D. Genreau+45SsN

Melbourne Victory · 24/25→25/26

Western Sydney Wanderers

49 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	Y. Salas Full-back	Brisbane Roar	30	43.7	44	12
2	N. Atkinson Full-back	Melbourne City	27	43.5	4495.1%	1661.4%
3	G. Ferreyra Centre-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	30	43.3	43421.7%	1336.6%
4	R. Grant Full-back	Sydney	35	39.4	39	8
5	B. Garuccio Full-back	Sydney	31	39.1	39	12
6	F. de Vries Full-back	Auckland	31	34.4	34154.8%	1251.8%
7	A. Grant Centre-back	Newcastle Jets	32	33.6	34101.2%	966.1%
8	A. Behich Full-back	Melbourne City	35	33.1	3364.7%	868.2%
9	J. McGarry Full-back	Wellington Phoenix	28	32.6	33515.1%	1555.5%
10	J. King Centre-back	Brisbane Roar	25	29.2	29595.2%	1949.6%
11	H. Sakai Full-back	Auckland	36	29.2	29269.6%	728.6%
12	C. Elliot Full-back	Auckland	27	28.6	29	16
13	L. Mauragis Full-back	Central Coast Mariners	24	28.5	29	21
14	C. Piper Centre-forward	Wellington Phoenix	23	26	26	20
15	S. Roux Full-back	Central Coast Mariners	33	25.6	26	8
16	D. Valkanis Centre-back	Brisbane Roar	20	25.1	25	20
17	Joel Bertolissio Full-back	Newcastle Jets	22	25	25	22
18	A. Pantazopoulos Centre-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	23	24.1	24	20
19	A. Popovic Centre-back	Sydney	23	24	24458.1%	1956.7%
20	C. A. Shamoon Full-back	Perth Glory	21	24	24	20
21	P. Kikianis Centre-back	Adelaide United	21	23.2	23	22
22	B. Kaltak Centre-back	Perth Glory	32	22.7	23	10
23	M. Tisserand Centre-back	Sydney	33	22.1	2244.2%	773.3%
24	J. Davidson Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	35	22	2230.2%	849.3%
25	D. Wilmering Full-back	Newcastle Jets	25	21.9	22	22
26	N. Paull Centre-back	Macarthur	23	21	21	18
27	C. Talbot Full-back	Macarthur	25	20.7	21	21
28	P. Ziereis Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	33	20.6	215.1%	2447%
29	H. Politidis Full-back	Macarthur	24	20.5	21	19
30	M. Sheridan Full-back	Wellington Phoenix	22	20.4	20	20
31	A. Gersbach Full-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	29	20.3	20178.1%	1349.2%
32	T. Sekine Full-back	Sydney	31	18.3	1824.4%	2522.6%
33	L. Kelly-Heald Full-back	Wellington Phoenix	21	17.3	17	19
34	R. Kitto Full-back	Adelaide United	32	17.3	17	10
35	B. Vriends Centre-back	Adelaide United	35	16.9	1739.4%	776.6%
36	S. Wootton Centre-back	Perth Glory	34	16.4	16355.6%	867.6%
37	J. Courtney-Perkins Centre-back	Sydney	23	15	15	1848.5%
38	I. Hughes Centre-back	Wellington Phoenix	22	14.9	15	20
39	L. Bonetig Centre-back	Melbourne City	21	14.8	15	18
40	S. Sutton Full-back	Perth Glory	24	14.7	15	20
41	T. Uskok Centre-back	Macarthur	35	14	14	7
42	J. Shaughnessy Centre-back	Newcastle Jets	34	13.9	14202.2%	753.8%
43	N. Pijnaker Centre-back	Auckland	27	12.7	13	15
44	J. Inserra Full-back	Melbourne Victory	21	11.1	11	19
45	D. Pierias Full-back	Adelaide United	26	10	10	18
46	B. Tuiloma Centre-back	Wellington Phoenix	31	9.6	10220%	859.8%
47	L. Jackson Centre-back	Perth Glory	31	8.2	820.6%	870.1%
48	T. Lockyer Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	31	7.5	845.7%	1275.2%
49	M. Cooper Centre-back	Newcastle Jets	18	5.7	6	19