List of Tallest AFL Players
While successful AFL players can come in all shapes and sizes, certain physical attributes, such as height, can play an important part in game performance. For example, taller players with a good leap and positional skills, will win the ruck more often. Around the field, height is an advantage in overhead marking contests, and for reaching in for the ball, though tall players will find it harder to access ground balls.
The tallest player on an AFL team list is Richmond's Mate Colina (213cm), though he is yet to play a senior game. Of those who have played at least one senior AFL game, there are a few players at 211cm tall who share the title of the tallest to play footy.
Tall players are generally ruckmen. Comparing playing positions of AFL players from 2012-2018, ruckmen were the tallest (average 201.4cm), followed by the defenders, then forwards and the shortest were the midfielders (average 184.4cm).
all shapes and sizes in a football teamList of the Tallest AFL Players Ever
| Rank | Ht (cm) | Ht (feet/inch) | Player | Team | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 211 | 6' 11" | Ned Reeves | Hawthorn | 2019– |
| 211 | 6' 11" | Mason Cox | Collingwood | 2015– | |
| 211 | 6' 11" | Aaron Sandilands | Fremantle | 2003–2019 | |
| 211 | 6' 11" | Peter Street | Geelong/Western Bulldogs | 2001-2008 | |
| 5 | 210 | 6' 10.5" | Matthew 'Spider' Burton | Fremantle, West Coast, Kangaroos | 1990-2003 |
| 6 | 209 | 6' 10" | Jarrod Witts | Collingwood, Gold Coast | 2012+ |
| 209 | 6' 10" | Dawson Simpson | Geelong, Greater Western | 2010-2019 | |
| 209 | 6' 10" | Max Gawn | Melbourne | 2010+ | |
| 9 | 207 | 6' 9.5" | Tim English | Bulldogs | 2017+ |
| 207 | 6' 9.5" | Rory Lobb | Greater Western, Fremantle, Bulldogs | 2014+ |
Listed AFL players (yet to play a senior game)
| Rank | Ht (cm) | Ht (feet/inch) | Player | Team | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 213 | 7' 0" | Mate Colina | Richmond | |
| 2 | 210 | 6' 10.5" | Angus Milham | Essendon | |
| 210 | 6' 10.5" | Alex Mirkov | Carlton | ||
| 4 | 209 | 6' 10" | Lachlan McAndrew | Sydney |
Data Source: the height data is taken from the player's profile on Wikipedia when listed, otherwise from other sources online (Oct 2022)
Author: Written by Rob Wood, with extra research by Casper Wood
Related Pages
- List of the Shortest AFL Players
- AFL Player Anthropometry by Position
- Sport Specific Anthropometry - about body size and composition of many sports
- All about anthropometry testing
- Procedure for measuring Height
- Examples of the World's tallest athletes
- Height growth charts — monitoring height changes over time
- Indigenous AFL players are shorter, lighter and faster
- Converting cm to ft and in and vice versa.
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current