He may have had an up and down season by his own lofty standards, but Jake Stringer still finds himself among the game’s leading general forwards according to Champion Data.

Based on their Official AFL Player Ratings, the AFL’s official stats gurus ranked the 22-year-old ninth among small forwards, ahead of Devon Smith of Greater Western Sydney and behind Port Adelaide’s Chad Wingard in eighth spot.

Stringer led the Bulldogs with 42 goals last season, while also leading the Club in Scoreboard Impact points and was his teammates’ number one target inside forward-50.

Hawthorn’s Cyril Rioli was ranked number one, followed by Toby Greene of the Giants and Adelaide’s Eddie Betts with the Hawks, GWS and the Crows accounting for seven of the top ten spots.

Champion Data emphasise the quality of games played over quantity when determining the annual rankings.

CHAMPION DATA’S TOP 10 GENERAL FORWARDS

1. Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)

2. Toby Greene (GWS Giants)

3. Eddie Betts (Adelaide)

4. Brett Deledio (GWS Giants).

5. Tom Lynch (Adelaide).

6. Luke Breust (Hawthorn)

7. Daniel Menzel (Geelong)

8. Chad Wingard (Port Adelaide)

9. Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs)

10. Devon Smith (GWS Giants)