The All-Australian team is set to be announced tonight.
And as I've done over the past few years, it's time I shared with you who I believe deserves a spot on this year's All-Australian team.
In case you haven't seen who made the squad of 40, here's who made it:
Adelaide: Rory Laird
Brisbane: Harris Andrews, Dayne Beams
Carlton: Patrick Cripps
Collingwood: Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury, Brodie Grundy, Steele Sidebottom
Essendon: Devon Smith
Fremantle: Lachie Neale
Geelong: Mark Blicavs, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart
Gold Coast: Nil
GWS Giants: Callan Ward, Lachie Whitfield
Hawthorn: Luke Breust, Tom Mitchell, Jack Gunston
Melbourne: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver
North Melbourne: Ben Brown, Shaun Higgins
Port Adelaide: Robbie Gray, Tom Jonas
Richmond: Josh Caddy, Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, Dylan Grimes, Kane Lambert, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt
Sydney: Lance Franklin, Jake Lloyd
St. Kilda: Nil
West Coast: Andrew Gaff, Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern, Elliot Yeo
Western Bulldogs: Jack Macrae
There are always a number of players unlucky to miss out on the final team of 22. This year, I've left out some superstar-calibre players. Among the omissions include last year's Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin, Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield and Sydney forward Lance Franklin. The AFL selectors may find a spot in the side for them, but to me, they just haven't really done enough to earn a spot this year.
The Defence
Selecting the two key backs was perhaps the easiest task of the whole team. No disrespect to Harris Andrews, but I think – as good of a year as he has had – he just isn't there yet as an elite defender, come back to me in 12 months and perhaps he will be an All Australian. Alex Rance at full-back and Jeremy McGovern at centre-half back were no-brainer decisions. Naming Rance's running mate in Dylan Grimes as the third tall completes the trio of talls down back.
Richmond are the second-best defensive side in the competition, and it's largely thanks to last year's AA captain Rance and Grimes, which is why they are both named in the side– also a special mention to David Astbury, who is also a brilliant player. It was hard to decide between Grimes and Port Adelaide's Tom Jonas, who has had a fantastic year in his own right, but in the end, I went with Grimes as he's had a fine year in a Richmond defence that has excelled this year
West Coast's McGovern continues to prove his worth as one of the game's best intercept defenders. He is sixth in the league for marks average (averaging seven per game) and is leading the league in contested marks (averaging 2.8 per game). This should be his third successive All-Australian selection – having been named in 2016 and 2017.
There is no shortage of defensive runners and rebounding defenders in the squad and only four made the cut. Shannon Hurn would have to be in consideration for the captaincy this year after a massive year in not just leading the Eagles to a top-two finish, but a career year in his own right, averaging personal bests in disposals (21.3 per game), marks (7.8 per game) and rebound 50s (4.6 per game).
Rory Laird is a lock on the half-back flank, averaging career-bests in disposals (32.2 per game – sixth in the league) and rebound 50s (five per game - 10th in the league) in what is perhaps one of a few rare positives in a down year for the Crows. Tom Stewart is positioned on the other half-back flank after the mature-aged recruit enjoyed a massive second-year in the league at Geelong, averaging 20.3 disposals, 6.2 marks and 5.5 rebound 50s per game – which is ranked third in the league.
Coming off the bench, I've placed Sydney's Jake Lloyd, who has been an underrated player for the most part of his career, but is finally receiving recognition as a terrific running defender. Lloyd is averaging career-highs in marks (6.3 per game), disposals (28.2 per game) and rebound 50s (six per game). He is also first in the AFL for kicks, averaging 18 per game and second in the league for rebound 50s.
The Midfield
Let's address the proverbial 'Elephant in the room' with who will be named as the number one ruckman? Max Gawn or Brodie Grundy? These two battled out in Queen's Birthday with the honours in the end going to Grundy, but like I said in the mid-year All-Australian team, it was hard t separate, so they're both going in – putting two ruckmen in is doable. Gawn is starting as he has amassed more hitouts and is the only man in the history of the game to log 1000 hitouts in a season. Gawn also beats Grundy in goals (11.11 to 8.8) and averages more marks per game (4.6 to 3.6)
Where Grundy beats Gawn is his ability to cover the ground and gather more possessions. Grundy averages nearly 21 disposals a game and also averages 5.5 clearances and 5.2 tackles per game, which is way more than his Melbourne counterpart. It's very hard to distinguish who is better than who, so why not place both of them in the All-Australian team? It's fair to say both have earned their spot.
So what about the midfielders? We've already established that there will be no Dustin Martin and no Patrick Dangerfield this year – so who else is there?The first players that come to mind, include Brownlow Medal favourites in Hawthorn's Tom Mitchell and Carlton's Patrick Cripps.
Mitchell backed up his breakout 2017 year with an equally impressive 2018, averaging 35.7 disposals, 6.2 tackles, 7.8 clearances and 5.1 inside 50s per game – unsurprisingly he leads the AFL in disposals, handballs and clearances, whilst he is fourth in inside 50s and sixth in kicks. Cripps has had an outstanding year in an otherwise dismal Carlton team, averaging a career-high 29.6 disposals, which is fourth in the league, along with solid numbers of 7.6 clearances (second in the AFL) and 6.2 tackles per game.
Also starting in the middle of the All-Australian team includes Melbourne young gun Clayton Oliver, who was amazingly robbed of a spot in even the squad of 40 last year. Oliver should get a spot in the final 22 this year, averaging 29.7 disposals, along with 6.7 clearances and 6.9 tackles per game, which was pretty much what he averaged last year. There won't be too many players who have had a great first 50-odd games like Clayton Oliver.
On the wings, I couldn't resist in selecting Jack Macrae, who has had a breakout season in his own right. Despite missing three games due to a hamstring injury, Macrae has averaged career-highs across the board. Averaging 32.8 disposals – which is five-up on his average last year, along with ninth in the league in disposals – as well as 6.1 clearances, 5.3 tackles and 4.3 inside 50s per game. Aside from the game he got injured, he only went under 30 disposals once – that was in round five against Fremantle.
Andrew Gaff was also a very tough decision to make, given what had transpired a few weeks ago. Gaff averaged 30 disposals, 5.2 marks and 3.9 inside 50s per game in his 19 games, along with averaging a career-high 3.6 clearances per game. There aren't many players in the squad of 40 who display elite outside run like Gaff does, so that's why he's in, regardless of what you think of him as a person. His team-mate Elliot Yeo will come off the bench after producing another great year, which saw him average 24.4 disposals, 5.1 marks, 6.7 tackles, 5.2 inside 50s, 4.4 clearances and 2.1 rebound 50s per game and can float in almost any position on the ground.
The Forwards
Let's firstly address why Lance Franklin isn't in this team. Despite finishing fourth in the Coleman with 57 goals and have games where he's completely owned it, Buddy has missed four games and to have him over either Ben Brown or Jack Riewoldt, would be absolutely criminal, considering both men have played every game this year. Riewoldt stormed home in the last month to win the Coleman Medal, with 65.33 for the year, including a bag of 10 against the Gold Coast and 5.2 against the Bulldogs in the final round to almost have the medal in the bag.
Brown had been leading the race for the Coleman for virtually most of the year, but his form began to taper off slightly, but still did enough to finish with 61.24 for the season and was without question, one of the sharpest shots on goal in the game today. In my honest opinion, he was robbed of a spot last year, but I think he's done more than enough to get a spot this year. Geelong's Tom Hawkins could've easily claimed the third tall forward option, but I decided to give it to someone more befitting of the role.
That goes to Hawthorn's Jack Gunston, who enjoyed a return to form after a 2017 season that saw him trialled as a defender for the most part of the year. In 2018, Gunston kicked 48.27 in all but one game, and averaged 17.8 disposals and 5.4 marks per game. Whilst he's named on one pocket, his good buddy Luke Breust is named in the other pocket, as he too, enjoyed a return to form. In 2017, he only kicked 33 goals, but this year, Breust managed over 50 goals (53.23) for the first time since 2015 – which was when Hawthorn last won a flag. Strangely enough, he is only one of five men to kick 50 goals or more this season.
Occupying the two half-forward slots, I've named guys that can legitimately play forward or in the middle – that being Port Adelaide's Robbie Gray and Richmond's Josh Caddy. Gray played all but one game and averaged 21 disposals and 1.7 goals per game (36 goals), which is something that not many midfielders/half-forwards can do. Caddy had more of a breakout year, kicking a very accurate 44.13 whilst averaging 16 disposals, 3.6 marks, 3.1 tackles, 3.2 inside 50s and 2.2 clearances, which are solid numbers.
On the bench will be a controversial call for some, but in the 17 games that Jordan De Goey has played for Collingwood this year, it's hard to overlook someone who has taken games by the scruff of the neck the way he has. He kicked 36.16 in just 17 games and it could very much be over 45-50 if he played all 22 home and away games, having kicked a bag of six, a bag of five and multiple bags of four goals.
The 2018 AFL All-Australian Team
B: Shannon Hurn (West Coast), Alex Rance (Richmond), Dylan Grimes (Richmond)
HB: Rory Laird (Adelaide), Jeremy McGovern (West Coast), Tom Stewart (Geelong) C: Jack Macrae (W. Bulldogs), Patrick Cripps (Carlton), Andrew Gaff (West Coast) HF: Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), Josh Caddy (Richmond) F: Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Ben Brown (North Melbourne), Jack Gunston (Hawthorn) FOL: Max Gawn (Melbourne), Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn), Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) INT: Brodie Grundy (Collingwood), Elliot Yeo (West Coast), Jordan De Goey (Collingwood), Jake Lloyd (Sydney)