HAWTHORN star Sam Mitchell has leapt back into the top 10 in the Official AFL Player Ratings, brought to you by Gatorade, after a dominant performance in the Hawks' 99-point win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
The veteran ball-magnet's 36 disposals and two goals equated to 25.9 player ratings points, which was the equal-best score of the round (Adelaide's David Mackay also tallied 25.9 points in the Crows' win over St Kilda).
Mitchell's effort saw Mitchell climb from No.12 on the player ratings table to a career-high position of ninth.
The last time he was so high on the table was after round eight last year.
When it comes to the top five, Suns captain Gary Ablett and Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury remain the No.1 and No.2 players in the AFL.
But Adelaide dynamo Patrick Dangerfield and Geelong captain Joel Selwood have swapped places, with Selwood climbing to No.3 and pushing Dangerfield down to No.4.
After Mitchell and Mackay, the other leading scorers in round five were Hawks forward Jarryd Roughead (25.6), Greater Western Sydney defender Heath Shaw (24.8) and Port Adelaide sharp-shooter Jay Schulz, whose seven goals earned him 24 points.
Magpies star Dane Swan also returned to form with a score of 23.9, while Pendlebury finished with 23.4.
Pendlebury is the leading scorer in 2014 so far. He has scored 97 points, while Ablett (89.5), Selwood (85.1), Hawthorn's Luke Breust (81.2) and Port Adelaide's Justin Westhoff (77.4) round out the top point-scorers for this season.
St Kilda's Luke Dunstan remains the top scorer when it comes to first-year players.
Dunstan (49.7) leads North Melbourne's Luke McDonald (40.8), Collingwood's Tom Langdon (35.1), Greater Western Sydney's Josh Kelly (33.7) and Brisbane Lion James Aish (33.1).
Two of the weekend's debutants, Port's Sam Gray and Richmond's Sam Lloyd, made a big impression first-up.
Gray tallied 21.4 points, which was the third-best score by a debutant since the player ratings began in 2010.
Lloyd became the sixth-best debutant in the history of the player ratings by scoring 19.2 points.
