Australian Sports Stars Power Rankings 2024 - Summer Edition

The team at Aussiebets.com have held furious debates around the coffee machine this week about who sits atop the power rankings for best Australian Sports Star so far in 2024. It has been a great summer of sport and with the winter codes almost a third of the way through their seasons there are a number of contenders from all walks of life to be put on this list!

The criteria we have used to determine the top 10 is as follows:

Professional Achievements - What the athlete has achieved within the given time frame within their sport taking into account the difficulty and rarity of such achievements.

Cash Money - What does the athlete currently earn in salary or bonuses for their work with prior earnings also playing a small part.

Followers and reach - How big is the athlete on the Australian stage and on the world stage. How do they match up against their contemporaries and are they competing at the highest level for their chosen sport. 

Brand - Is the athlete a role model and someone that parents encourage their kids to want to grow up to be like. The athletes on-field/court behaviour is also taken into account.

Mr Cricket himself had an amazing summer in all forms of the game and after taking a step away from the IPL for mental health reasons has shown to be a role model both on and off the field. Maxwell has the most Instagram followers of any star on this list and brings in a heft pay packet across all forms of the game.

The Australian captain single handedly turned games over the summer and showed the Australian people just why he is at the very top of Aussie Cricket. Cummins is also currently in India playing in the IPL with a massive pay packet on top of the increased salaries from Cricket Australia. Pat Cummins has been labeled by many old heads as “woke” but to stand up for what you believe in with the constant media pressure is something to applaud whether you agree with him or not.

The MMA star from the Gong has won 26 of his 30 MMA bouts since transitioning from a boxing and AFC career. He has a solid following both on the gram and on youtube as well as a very recognisable brand within the MMA sector. Volkanovski is known to be a humble fighter, always giving credit to his opponents and not stepping out of line on the big stage. He shows that he can be a world class athlete as well as a family man, a true role model for aspiring athletes.

Sam Kerr maybe makes this list based on prior achievements but there is no doubting her spot as one of the most powerful and influential Australian sports stars. The Matildas and Chelsea player has an individual honours list that takes multiple scrolls to move through. Add to that the records from her time playing in Australia and abroad and Sam stands out as THE most accomplished footballer Australia has ever produced. Recent injuries may mean that Sam will have a short stay on this list but it is well deserved nonetheless. 

There are very few athletes that can compete at the highest level in a chosen field. Perry has done it in two representing Australia in both soccer and cricket. Having now chosen cricket as her mainstay Ellyse has excelled at both the national and international level and most recently scored 35 not out in the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women’s Premier League Final win over the Delhi Capitals.

Oscar Piastri is a quiet achiever. Behind the fanfare of fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, Piastri goes about his business for the McLaren team in which he replaced his national compatriot. In 27 races Oscar has placed on the podium twice and currently sits 6th in the 2024 F1 Drivers standings with 38 points. Whilst maybe not having achieved his full potential as yet the young driver has a big salary and a large following on social media giving a lot of weight to his relevance on this list.

Mary Fowler became a household name following the Matildas World Cup efforts last year. Following her breakout tournament Fowler has continued her development with Manchester City earning her a nomination for Best FIFA Women’s Player and European Golden Girl Award. In the 23-24 Super League season Fowler has scored 3 goals in 19 appearances as well as 2 goals in 3 appearances in the National Cup. 

Travis Head is the kind of guy most of us can relate to. An average looking Joe, digs in at work, saves the team when needed and gets on with the job. Head has amassed 3000 runs at Test level while also receiving Player of the Match for his efforts in the first Test against the West Indies earlier this year. Compared to his teammates he has a lower salary and following but those that do are die-hards.

One of the youngest athletes on the list at just 21 years of age, Josh Giddey and his Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team have just completed a 4-0 sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of NBA play-offs. Giddey is the youngest player to ever record a triple-double in the NBA and was the 6th pick in the 2021 draft coming off a season with the Adelaide 36ers in the NBA development program. Giddey has the highest salary of any athlete on this list taking home USD$6.6M per year which pegs him at $10.4 in Aussie dollars. He was embroiled in an off-court drama earlier in the season which hit his brand for 6 but he kept his head low throughout and came out the other side relatively unscathed.

Cam Smith the Golfer. It seems silly to have to say Golfer after talking about this guy who won the 2022 Open Championship as well as 5 other tournaments on the PGA tour. He has won the Australian PGA Championship three times and lost the first LIV Golf League Playoff of 2024 in Hong Kong on the first extra hole. Smith has a healthy following on media channels and given his chosen discipline is a world wide sport he has started to make a name for himself in golfing circles internationally giving extra credit to his brand.