Gold Coast Sun Ben King, GWS Giant Jesse Hogan and Adelaide Crow Riley Thilthorpe are the best forwards in the AFL

“I can’t just hit up on leads, I am not that quick. I put a fair bit of time into my body work. I think I read the ball fairly well in the air and it is something I put a lot of time into.”

Thilthorpe is a competitor with great hands and a lumberjack’s beard. He is achieving great things inside his team’s forward 50 metres while also pinch-hitting in the ruck after recovering from a knee injury which sidelined him for much of 2024.

Thilthorpe jokes his dad’s knees are shot because of the amount of time they spent kicking the ball together, as he developed the vice-like grip he now puts on the Sherrin in a marking contest.

Of course, the fact his dad, Ben, represented Australia at seven world championships in ice hockey might have affected the old man’s knees, too.

Ice hockey runs in Thilthorpe’s blood – his grandfather, Jim, started the Adelaide Avalanche team – and he was talented enough to represent South Australia in the sport as an under-12 level at the age of six before deciding he wanted to play footy.

“I think I broke his (my dad’s) heart,” Thilthorpe said. “He definitely wanted a hockey player, but he got stuck with me.”

Now it’s key defenders whose hearts are being broken by the 200-centimetre Crow, who leaps at the ball with a combination of an ice dancer’s athleticism and the mad courage of an ice hockey player.

Collingwood are aware of that as they prepare, without skipper Darcy Moore, for a Crows attack on Saturday that will resemble a Manhattan skyline, with the tall timber of Thilthorpe, Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty.

Thilthorpe, 22, relishes being able to work into his career – now at 62 games – alongside such dangerous teammates.

“It’s great, it is a really tough match-up. You normally can’t match up on all three [of us],” he said.

His teammate Alex Neal-Bullen said it’s not their height or their smarts that make it work. It’s the trio’s focus on helping each other out.

“Talent is one thing, but what has impressed me most is their ability to work with each other,” Neal-Bullen said.

The knee injury was a blessing in disguise for Thilthorpe, who admitted counter-intuitively that his connection with teammates grew when he spent less time on the field with them.

“Honestly, I grew a bit closer with the group, being valued not only for footy because you are not playing but valued as a person. I think that grew my confidence around the group and that transferred to my football,” Thilthorpe said.

He’s a competitor who has a touch of arrogance about him, as was on display when he clashed with the Suns’ Mac Andrew in round five.

“We are both very competitive and both wanted to win,” Thilthorpe said. “It’s tough when you are out there and tension can bubble over pretty easily. It is an emotional game … the words were going back and forth.”

Hogan is in the second phase of his career. He kicked 152 goals in his first 72 matches with Melbourne then battled to focus on football at Fremantle before finding a happy place at the Giants, where he has once again showcased his talents.

“He’s the best forward in the comp”, Lloyd this week told AFL Media.

He is the focal point who loves the ball coming in deep and is averaging more marks inside 50 this season than the other five players – which includes King and Thilthorpe – who have taken 25 marks inside 50 this season.

Aged 30 and moving in on 400 goals, he is also guiding his talented teammate Aaron Cadman, who was No.1 pick in the 2022 national draft and is slowly but surely emerging as Hogan’s successor.

His sidekick has kicked 10 goals this season, the same number as Jed Walter, who shapes as a brute of the future for the Gold Coast.

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“[Cadman’s] timing and his knowledge that he is going to be big and strong when he is at his max and [his arms] are at their highest point is going to be very hard to defend,” Hogan said. “This is when those young forwards develop, and you can really see his progression. We are definitely seeing signs of it, and it won’t be too long before he rips a game apart.”

Hogan was typically modest after Sunday’s match-winning effort in Geelong, arguing the absence of key Cats Jack Henry and Tom Stewart helped his performance. That humility belies how comfortable he is being the man inside 50m for his team.

King is equally at home in that role for the Suns, telling SEN during pre-season he had embraced the need to provide a presence for his team inside 50m.

On Saturday, Hogan comes up against one of his former clubs, Fremantle – who have new-generation forward Josh Treacy in their midst – just hours after Thilthorpe will showcase his good form on the MCG.

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King will be resting on his throne at the top of the leaderboard, his job done with two goals in Darwin on Thursday night, but more excited about team success than his position on the goalkicking table.

The new mob of key forwards are attracting fewer headlines because, apart from Darcy, they live outside Victoria. But that will soon change if they continue doing what crowds love forwards to do; kicking goals, splitting packs, providing a target for teammates and winning games for their teams.

“It (the job) is just playing my role and giving faith to (coach Adam Kingsley) and the mids that if they kick it forward they will get a contest,” Hogan said.