Best Defensive defenders by Season Rating in A-League

The best defensive defenders in A-League, ranked on Field Insider.

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

At a glance

D. Wilmering of Newcastle Jets is the standout for raw talent across defenders in A-League, with a Field Insider Rating of 22.1, and Y. Salas has been the form player this season, grading 43.7, and C. Piper leads the scoring with 4 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: G. Ferreyra has improved his Season rating most, up +35 on last season. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, L. Mauragis of Central Coast Mariners is the most valuable name in this group at 1.3.

Auckland · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

G. Ferreyra+35SsN

Melbourne City · 23/24→25/26

Central Coast Mariners

50 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	Melbourne City	30	43.3	43421.7%	1337.6%
4	R. Grant Full-back	Sydney	35	39.4	39	8
5	B. Garuccio Full-back	Sydney	31	39.1	39	12
6	B. Tapp Centre-back	Central Coast Mariners	25	34.9	35	20
7	F. de Vries Full-back	Auckland	31	34.4	34154.8%	1251.8%
8	A. Grant Centre-back	Sydney	32	33.6	34101.2%	966.1%
9	A. Behich Full-back	Melbourne City	35	33.1	3364.7%	868.2%
10	J. McGarry Full-back	Brisbane Roar	28	32.6	33515.1%	1555.5%
11	D. Hall Centre-back	Auckland	27	32.4	32	18
12	S. Esposito Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	21	31.9	32	21
13	H. Sakai Full-back	Auckland	36	29.2	29269.6%	728.6%
14	J. King Centre-back	Sydney	25	29.2	29595.2%	1949.6%
15	C. Elliot Full-back	Auckland	27	28.6	29	16
16	L. Mauragis Full-back	Central Coast Mariners	24	28.5	29	21
17	C. Piper Centre-forward	Wellington Phoenix	23	26	26	20
18	S. Roux Full-back	Central Coast Mariners	33	25.6	26	8
19	S. Souprayen Centre-back	Melbourne City	37	25.1	25	4
20	D. Valkanis Centre-back	Brisbane Roar	20	25.1	25	20
21	Joel Bertolissio Full-back	Newcastle Jets	22	25	25	22
22	J. Donachie Centre-back	Central Coast Mariners	33	24.4	24	7
23	A. Pantazopoulos Centre-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	23	24.1	24	20
24	C. A. Shamoon Full-back	Perth Glory	21	24	24	20
25	A. Popovic Centre-back	Sydney	23	24	24458.1%	1956.7%
26	P. Kikianis Centre-back	Adelaide United	21	23.2	23	22
27	B. Kaltak Centre-back	Perth Glory	32	22.7	23	10
28	M. Tisserand Centre-back	Sydney	33	22.1	2244.2%	773.3%
29	J. Davidson Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	35	22	2230.2%	849.3%
30	D. Wilmering Full-back	Newcastle Jets	25	21.9	22	22
31	N. Paull Centre-back	Central Coast Mariners	22	21	21	19
32	J. Rawlins Full-back	Melbourne Victory	22	20.9	2113.6%	2158.7%
33	C. Talbot Full-back	Macarthur	25	20.7	21	21
34	H. Politidis Full-back	Macarthur	24	20.5	21	19
35	M. Sheridan Full-back	Wellington Phoenix	22	20.4	20	20
36	A. Gersbach Full-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	29	20.3	20178.1%	1349.2%
37	Roderick Miranda Centre-back	Melbourne Victory	35	19.3	1934%	773%
38	M. James Centre-back	Wellington Phoenix	33	18.8	19147.4%	771.7%
39	M. Natta Centre-back	Newcastle Jets	23	18.5	19	21
40	D. Da Silva Centre-back	Macarthur	38	17.4	172.4%	571.7%
41	L. Kelly-Heald Full-back	Wellington Phoenix	21	17.3	17	19
42	R. Kitto Full-back	Adelaide United	31	17.3	17	11
43	B. Vriends Centre-back	Adelaide United	35	16.9	1739.4%	776.6%
44	S. Wootton Centre-back	Perth Glory	34	16.4	16355.6%	867.6%
45	A. Simmons Full-back	Western Sydney Wanderers	23	15.4	15	18
46	W. Scott Full-back	Macarthur	26	15.1	15	17
47	J. Courtney-Perkins Centre-back	Sydney	23	15	15	1848.5%
48	I. Hughes Centre-back	Wellington Phoenix	22	14.9	15	20
49	L. Bonetig Centre-back	Melbourne City	21	14.8	15	18
50	S. Sutton Full-back	Perth Glory	24	14.7	15	20