We are now two thirds into the season and most of the AFL community have an idea of what the All-Australian team will look like. We have seen who has been the best and most consistent.
Here is the dissection of each club as most clubs have at least two players who will be looked at by the All-Australian selection panel.
Adelaide
The obvious player to name is Patrick Dangerfield, who continues to take the AFL by storm.
Watching him play forward or in the midfield, he manages to out muscle his opponents then use his very accurate kick.
Richard Douglas has had a breakout year. With Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett out and other star midfielders not living up to 2012’s standards, Douglas seems to have risen above the pack. Douglas is a great outside midfielder for the Crows and a tackle machine.
Brisbane
Matthew Leuenberger and Pearce Hanley seem to be the standout players for the Lions.
Leuenberger is slowly merging himself into one of the best ruckmen in the competition; he is a star on the rise, averaging 30 hit-outs a game.
24-year-old Hanley has had a breakout year, being a very important weapon for the Lions. Hanley loves to dance around people when he has the ball.
Carlton
Andrew Walker hasn’t been as good as he was in the first half of the year but he still is tearing opposition midfields apart and also uses the ball well, going at 77 percent disposal efficiency.
Going by statistics the other Blues player who should be looked at is Chris Judd. Judd has the most disposals at Carlton (averages 24 a game) and has the most inside 50s at the Blues. He still continues to show his worth at the age of 29.
Collingwood
Dane Swan was too inconsistent in the first half of the season but Scott Pendlebury has been ‘on song’ all season.
Pendlebury has been all class all season. The viewers of the Collingwood – Adelaide game just saw what Pendlebury is made of. He has superb awareness and polished decision making.
Travis Cloke is also in All-Australian contetion. His monstrous strength and clean hands gives him a huge advantage in marking contest.
Cloke is equal third for most goals in the competition, four goals away from taking pole position for the Coleman Medal.
Essendon
There are many players from Essendon that are in All Australian contention.
Bomber names which would go under the selection microscope would be Jobe Watson, Jake Carlisle, Brendon Goddard, Dyson Heppel and Michael Hibberd.
Many would say Watson is a definite inclusion but if you think about it, Watson has to compete against many other A-grade midfielders.
Watson’s injury and supplement admission could also put things into perspective for the selection panel.
Fremantle
Fremantle is a similar case to Essendon’s. where a lot the Dockers players have been magnificent.
Obvious names to be considered are Nat Fyfe, Michael Barlow and Luke McPharlin.
Others could also present the argument for players like Chris Mayne and Stephen Hill.
Ryan Crowley should also be thrown into the mix as he is still commonly known as the best tagger in the competition.
Geelong
Again, the Cats have many players which should be considered for the All-Australian team. The two that stand out are Harry Taylor and Steven Motlop.
Motlop has established himself as one of the best small forwards in the competition this year; he is slick, skillful and quick, and he also spends a lot more time forward compared to Stokes and Christensen.
Taylor is one of the best key backmen in the country. He is first for marks at Geelong. He is great at spoiling the ball, closing in space and being the last line of defence, and also has a fantastic long kick for goal!
Gold Coast
Gary Ablett is a certainty, the freakishly skilled, strong and agile Brownlow medal favourite cemented his spot in the AA team before the season even started.
If you had to you look at another Gold Coast player it would be Rory Thompson. The highly underrated defender usually keeps his forward opponent quiet.
Thompson is a great mark and is reliable to get the ball out of the defensive 50.
GWS
As a young team with no wins, don’t expect any All-Australians in the Giants team.
But if you did have to select one player to be in the team, it would be Jeremy Cameron. Cameron has a highly anticipated career ahead of him, and has already kicked 39 goals this season and only the best defenses have kept him quiet.
The next player in line from Giants would be Callan Ward, another dangerous player but struggles to break a tag.
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