The 2019 All Australian Squad was announced on Monday and with the final cut of 22 players to be announced on Wednesday, it doesn’t leave much time to predict who makes the team and come up with explanations.
So today, I thought I’ll give you who I think will make the final 22, but before I announce my team, if you haven’t seen who actually made the squad, I’ll show you just below. Bit surprising to see nobody representing Essendon this season – I would’ve thought maybe Zach Merrett was a big chance, but obviously the selectors know best apparently.
The All-Australian Squad Of 40
Adelaide: Daniel Talia Brisbane: Harris Andrews, Charlie Cameron, Hugh McCluggage, Lachie Neale, Dayne Zorko Carlton: Patrick Cripps Collingwood: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Adam Treloar Essendon: Nil Fremantle: Nat Fyfe, Michael Walters Geelong: Gary Ablett, Mark Blicavs, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Tim Kelly, Tom Stewart GWS: Jeremy Cameron, Nick Haynes Gold Coast: Nil Hawthorn: James Sicily Melbourne: Max Gawn North Melbourne: Ben Brown, Ben Cunnington Port Adelaide: Travis Boak Richmond: Bachar Houli, Dylan Grimes, Dustin Martin, Dion Prestia St. Kilda: Nil Sydney: Dane Rampe West Coast Eagles: Jack Darling, Andrew Gaff, Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern, Brad Sheppard, Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo Western Bulldogs: Marcus Bontempelli, Josh Dunkley, Jack Macrae
The Defenders
There would have been no other dead certainty in the back six than having Harris Andrews at full back. He probably deserved to be in the All-Australian side last year, had he not been injured. He’s played 19 games this year and has been impactful in most, if not all of them. He leads the competition in one percenters, averaging 10.95 per game and being a key piece to why Brisbane have surged up the ladder so dramatically this year. Dylan Grimes would be the next tall defender selected – he’s having himself a career-best year, filling in the shoes of Alex Rance, who has been an All Australian full back for years now. Grimes has stepped in and has played his role seamlessly. He has shut down all that has come before him and a bit like what Andrews is to Brisbane, his form has been one of a few keys to the Tigers’ top four finish.
West Coast are represented with two defenders in the six. Jeremy McGovern has been a mainstay in the All Australian side. He is an elite intercept defender and again led the league in intercepts this season – He gets in at centre-half back. I struggled to decide with Brad Sheppard or captain Shannon Hurn. I went for Sheppard, just. He has been a renowned lockdown defender for years, but this year, he’s averaged career-best numbers in disposals, marks and rebound 50s. If Hurn gets in, he needs the captaincy after he was robbed of it the year before. Rounding out the back six is Tom Stewart who was an All-Australian last year and has continued to improve and James Sicily who plays the half-back role to such perfection – averaging career-highs in rebound 50s.
The Midfielders
We need some genuine wingers in this All Australian team, I’m shocked that Ricky Henderson and Brad Hill didn’t make the squad – they would’ve been automatic. Hugh McCluggage had a good year in the wing, but I don’t think he’s there just yet. Jack Macrae and Adam Treloar are the top two players in the league for disposals and have both shown their ability to run and cover the ground all day, week in, week out – they are my wingmen. Another dynamic was whether or not to go with the pair of Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy or do I just go with a solo ruck? I went with the solo act of Brodie Grundy, because Gawn may have had a good season individually, but the Demons had a very poor year and from me personally, I don’t think Gawn was good enough for an All-Australian blazer.
Who I have starting in the centre square are three very deserving players and undoubtedly will be in the mix come Brownlow night. Patrick Cripps and Marcus Bontempelli have managed to take their games to higher levels and will arguably be the two players seriously considered for the captaincy that is if the selectors pull their heads in and don’t make daft decisions like putting Buddy Franklin in as captain last year. Cripps is a clearance beast in the stoppages and the Bont is still just as lethal with his disposals, despite averaging career-high numbers in disposals and clearances. The third man is arguably the recruit of the year in Lachie Neale. He was robbed of a spot in years gone by, because he’s such an accumulator of the footy. He was a big part of why Brisbane started the year so well and has been consistent across the season as the Lions finished in the top two.
The Forwards
The first picked are the two key forwards that finished up with 60+ goals for the year. Ben Brown has been robbed of a spot for the past two seasons and finally should get a spot in this year, whilst the man that just beat him in the Coleman Medal – Jeremy Cameron has had a fine year up forward for the Giants, kicking 67 goals in just 20 games. Brown kicked 64 in 22 games. It was pretty simple to pick the two key forwards, and the next forward was also pretty easy to pick because he had such a great year for the Lions. Charlie Cameron would’ve been considered last year if he had played a full season. Now that he has this year, he’s a lock, having been the only small/mid-sized forward who has kicked over 50 goals for the season, having booted 54.29 in all 22 games.
Now this is where it gets tricky, because the small/mid forwards in this squad of 40 are very hard to come by. Michael Walters had a blistering patch in the middle of the year, and all up he has kicked 40.17 in 22 games and has had some bloody good games in the middle, he’s going on the half-forward flank. Patrick Dangerfield hasn’t had his best year – he’s battled injury a little bit as well during the season, but he has still managed to kick over a goal per game and has still averaged over 27 disposals per game – he takes the other forward flank. For the final spot in the pocket I opted to select Gary Ablett. He’s played a bit more forward this season and has averaged over 1.5 goals per game as well as averaging over 20 disposals and 4.4 tackles per game.
The Bench
So usually the selectors will select predominantly midfielders and whilst that recognizes the better players, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that some of the other players in other positions don’t get rewarded. So I opted to go with a forward, a mid, a back and a player that can offer up some versatility. My versatile is Nat Fyfe – it needed to be someone who play mid but can also float forward. He needed to be in this side, he averaged 29.1 disposals and 7.5 clearances per game, as well as kicking 16.13 for the year. Having a key forward on the bench is pretty unorthodox but I had to had Jack Darling in the team after a solid year that saw him yield a very accurate 54.18 for the season. Bachar Houli is another who deserves a spot in this team – he is my defensive rotation after a career-best season which saw him play a little further up the ground as well as his usual post at half-back, whilst Travis Boak’s first year since he gave up the captaincy at Port Adelaide saw him average career-high numbers in disposals and clearances sees him as the midfield rotation.
The Predicted AFL All-Australian Team Of 2019
B: Dylan Grimes (RICH), Harris Andrews (BL), Brad Sheppard (WCE) HB: James Sicily (HAW), Jeremy McGovern (WCE), Tom Stewart (GEEL) C: Adam Treloar (COLL), Patrick Cripps (CARL), Jack Macrae (WB) HF: Michael Walters (FREM), Jeremy Cameron (GWS), Patrick Dangerfield (GEEL) F: Charlie Cameron (BL), Ben Brown (NM), Gary Ablett (GEEL) FOL: Brodie Grundy (COLL), Lachie Neale (BL), Marcus Bontempelli (WB) INT: Nat Fyfe (FREM), Bachar Houli (RICH), Travis Boak (PORT), Jack Darling (WCE)