Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich and Hawthorn onballer Sam Mitchell are stunning non-selections in the AFL All-Australian team.
Both made the initial squad of 40 but are the most notable exclusions from the final team of 22 named on Monday night in Melbourne.
Pavlich was a key to Fremantle’s revival this season, overcoming hip and Achilles tendon problems to kick 62 goals in 21 home-and-away games.
The Dockers skipper revealed earlier on Monday that he had not received an invitation for the All-Australian dinner, but said it did not concern him.
“Individual awards aren’t what I play footy for, it’s about the team success,” Pavlich said.
“I’m sure externally there might be some comments about it, but I’m just looking forward to having a break and getting ready for next year.”
All-Australian selector Luke Darcy said one issue was that Pavlich spent a lot of time in the midfield at the start of the season.
Mitchell also played 21 games and was pivotal as the Hawks won the minor premiership.
The selection of West Coast’s Nic Naitanui as the first ruckman will also raise eyebrows.
His team-mate Dean Cox deservedly made the team in a forward pocket, but Naitanui was picked ahead of Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs and Richmond’s Ivan Maric.
Selector Gerard Healy said six of the seven judges voted for Naitanui.
Cox and Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett made the team for the sixth time.
They join Pavlich, Carlton captain Chris Judd and newly-retired Geelong star Matthew Scarlett as having the most selections among current players.
Incredibly, Ablett has made the past six All-Australian teams.
Eagles captain Darren Glass is the captain and Ablett is the vice-captain.
Selectors broke with the unofficial tradition that the Coleman Medallist as the league’s top goalkicker always makes the team.
Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt took that honour this season with 65 goals, but he was overlooked for the two key forward positions in favour of Hawthorn star Lance Franklin and Tom Hawkins of Geelong.
The last Coleman Medallist not to make the All-Australian team was St Kilda’s Fraser Gehrig in 2005.
Franklin kicked 59 goals despite missing six games because of injury and Hawkins blossomed this season, finishing with 62 goals.
Adelaide defender Brent Reilly and North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow are two other players who are unlucky not to make the team.
But all the Brownlow Medal favourites – Jobe Watson (Essendon), Trent Cotchin (Richmond), Gary Ablett (Gold Coast), Josh Kennedy (Sydney) and Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide) – were picked.
West Coast led the selections with four, while Collingwood and Hawthorn had three apiece.
North Melbourne were the only finalists not to have a player in this year’s team.
There are 15 first-time selections, the most since the then-VFL first picked an All-Australian team in 1982.
2012 team:
B: Sean Dempster (StK) Luke McPharlin (Fre) Darren Glass (WC capt)
HB: Beau Waters (WC) Ted Richards (Syd) Grant Birchall (Haw)
C: Trent Cotchin (Rich) Jobe Watson (Ess) Dayne Beams (Coll)
R: Nic Naitanui (WC) Scott Thompson (Adel) Gary Ablett (GC v capt)
HF: Patrick Dangerfield (Adel) Lance Franklin (Haw) Cyril Rioli (Haw)
F: Stephen Milne (StK) Tom Hawkins (Geel) Dean Cox (WC)
I: Brett Deledio (Rich) Josh Kennedy (Syd) Scott Pendlebury (Coll) Dane Swan (Coll)
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
"Dammit Jim, I'm a pundit, not a statistician" :)
Fantapants
Guest
I would LOVE to see this match up. What a team!?
Geoff Potter
Guest
On THE omission of Pavlich. Luke Darcy forgot what interchange bench is interesting when he made the comment about Pavlich playing in too many different positions!! Dean Cox as not number one ruckmen is also a joke. Sam Mitchell not on the interchange,mmmm! The man had all the stats & versatility. I know its a tough job but ... Geoff P
Titus
Guest
Ok, well maybe Nathan could go through a list of all past socceroos and AFL all Australians and break it down into a percentage for each state for us.
Breezy
Guest
Titus, I've only go on the last socceroos team, just like you have gone on the last AA team.
Titus
Guest
And if Zullo, Herd, Lowry, Langerak, Williams, McDonald, Sarota, Oar, Davidson, Rukavytsa, Kilkenny, Ognenovski had of played as they should have or often do then the numbers would be different.
Breezy
Guest
Well in the last socceroos team to play Jordan, apart from two Victorians and two from Queensland, the rest of the team were from NSW. I guess you could say they are all Australian but not representative of all Australia.
Breezy
Guest
Not too bad then really. The only place in Australia the AA selectors missed was the ACT.
Titus
Guest
The Australian Football team has players from all over the country. Some of the best youngsters are from WA and SA at the moment. But yes, the bulk of the national team comes from Victoria and NSW.
TC
Guest
That's a good question - one worth answering. I do know that Tom Hawkins was born and bred in Finley, Southern NSW. Incidentally, Brownlow medallist Shane Crawford was also from there, and I'm pretty sure there is at least one other player of note from there. Dayne Beams learned all his footy at Southport (on the Gold Coast). Nic Naitanui is from Penrith. So that's 3 of 22.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Hopefully WARL and RugbyWA can start producing juniors who can join those ranks. I think some of FootballWest's exports (Chris Herd, etc) have some chances on that score! That said, poor result for South Australia.
Breezy
Guest
Or the Australian soccer team, where most of the players are from NSW.
Titus
Guest
Though to be fair, that is no different to the Australian Rugby and Rugby League Australian teams.
Titus
Guest
Thanks Nathan, so I was pretty much correct, a team of people who are all Australian but not representative of all Australia. PS Hawkins is from Finley, which may as well be in Victoria anyway.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
You jackass, you made me go look. Okay, going by junior football, 10 from Vic, 5 from WA, 2 from SA, 1 from NSW (Hawkins, a bit fuzzy because he moved to Victoria partway through his juniors), 1 from QLD (Dayne Beams, shocked me) and 1 from Tas and 1 from NT. If we want to go by place of birth there are 2 in NSW (apparently Nic Naitanui was born in Sydney before he moved to WA as a boy which caught me by surprise).
Reynoldsinski
Guest
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Reynoldsinski
Guest
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Reynoldsinski
Guest
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Titus
Guest
Let me help you then Nathan.......probably none. The one touch sounds interesting, now if they can just reduce the games by about an hour and a half I could definitely get into it. : )
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Jesus, Titus, I'm not going to go trawling through the Bios of 22 players. I know something about 50 of the 843 AFL players are NSW in origin so I would be surprised if at least a couple of them have non-traditional origins. P.S. I remember you talking about the need for one-touch football - I've actually been seeing a rise in that one-touch tap-to-advantage or field kicking on the volley. Adelaide Crows did it on a number of occasions in their semi-final. Intrigued me :)