THE TWO best sides in the AFL this season, Melbourne and Fremantle, have broken away from the pack in more ways than one.

While both ladder-leading sides are being lauded for their miserly defences, it's how they're scoring that has also caught the eye after eight rounds.

A ranking of the top two goalkickers for each side so far this year shows an expected correlation with ladder position for the top eight teams, except for the Demons and Dockers.

* = Only one of multiple players on the same tally has been counted

Melbourne sits sixth for overall points scored and 12th for its combined tally of its two leading goalkickers (medium forward Bayley Fritsch and tall Ben Brown), while Fremantle is eighth for points scored and equal-16th for its leading goalkickers (pick two of Rory Lobb, Lachie Schultz and Matt Taberner).

Predictably, where these two pacesetters shine is in defence, being the only two teams to have conceded fewer than 500 points this season. Fremantle is ranked first with 459 points given up, or 57.4 points per game, while Melbourne is second with 489 points conceded, or 61.1 per game.

Melbourne and Fremantle are miles ahead of the pack defensively, with only three other sides (Brisbane, Geelong and St Kilda) bleeding fewer than 600 points in eight rounds. Player-strapped West Coast is at the back of the pack, giving up 865 points.

The importance of Peter Wright and pre-season signing Nic Martin to Essendon is underscored by just how many goals they've kicked for the two-win Bombers, while unlikely pair Mabior Chol (ex-Richmond) and Levi Casboult (ex-Carlton) have combined beautifully for Gold Coast.

While the exploits of Geelong's Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins and Carlton's Charlie Curnow and reigning Coleman medallist Harry McKay have captured the attention and excitement of fans, two dominant key forwards aren't overly common across the league.

Only a handful of sides (Geelong, Carlton, Gold Coast, Fremantle, GWS and Port Adelaide) have two talls leading their sides, and of that group, just Geelong, Carlton and Fremantle occupy the upper rungs of the ladder.

Interestingly, adding the third-best player to each side doesn't markedly change the order of teams.

The top seven sides do not move when their third-highest individual tally is added to the mix, while Hawthorn jumps from equal-11th to eighth.

The Dockers also rise up the pecking order, but only to 14th overall.