IT LOOMS as one of the marquee match-ups of round 14 – the hottest backman in the AFL up against the firing forward coming off the finest statistical effort of his career.

Both teams are coming off their bye but in round 12, Brisbane defender Harris Andrews' outing against Essendon was the highest score any key defender has registered in the Schick AFL Player Ratings since 2010, while Greater Western Sydney forward Jeremy Cameron's performance was the eighth-best by anyone in that time.

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Andrews racked up 20 spoils, nine intercept marks, six contested marks and five tackles, while also collecting 24 disposals.

The Lion is rated by Champion Data as the No.1 key defender in the competition this season, ahead of brilliant Richmond stopper Alex Rance.

Andrews scored 30.5 in the Player Ratings, the second-highest score of that week.

The mantle for the top game went to Cameron. He notched up 38.3 as the Giants rolled a floundering Gold Coast outfit.

Cameron slotted six goals, but what elevated his score was the difficulty of his shots. The average expected accuracy on those was 42 per cent.

It's not hard to see why – there were snaps galore, including one from deep in a pocket, while he converted a couple of set shots from outside 50.

However, Andrews might not be the one to man Cameron on Saturday at the Gabba – improved Lions backman Darcy Gardiner impressed on Cameron in round six.

Andrews could be as a potential back-up though if the GWS sharpshooter runs hot.

The 21-year-old has developed into a star since he was drafted at No.61 in 2014 and set the record of 23 spoils against Sydney in round 10.

He ranks No.1 in the competition for average one percenters and time-on-ground percentage per match.

The Player Ratings take into account an individual's past 40 games over a rolling two-year period with greater weighting to more recent matches, and have been recorded since 2010.

Best games by a key defender