Opinion
To Gillon McLachlan (chairman), Kevin Bartlett, Jude Bolton, Nathan Buckley, Kane Cornes, Andrew Dillon, Glen Jakovich, Chris Johnson, Cameron Ling, Nick Riewoldt and Brad Scott:
This is a message to all of you and I am going to help you not do what every fan hates when it comes to selecting this team, as well as understand that no matter who you pick, fans are going to disagree.
However, if you stick to some very good principles, the integrity of this side shall remain, which is more important than the pockets of social media who are up in arms every year.
So, what are these principles, I hear you ask?
Positional integrity
Does the idea of having Marcus Bontempelli at full-back sound completely ridiculous?
Yes, yes it does, so learn from your 2020 mistake when Dustin Martin was in a forward pocket.
The All-Australian team does not play anyone and this isn’t the Western Bulldogs, you can’t have 12 midfielders and put them wherever you want and expect a good football team.
The team needs to be the best two back pockets, the best two half-back flanks, the two best key defenders, the two best wingmen, the best ruckman, the three best midfielders, the two best half-forward flanks, the two best small forwards and the two best key forwards.
It’s that simple.
With the bench, a defender, two midfielders and a forward work or replace a midfielder with a ruckman if it’s close between two (2019 with Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy for example).
(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Quality players are going to miss out.
Even if you have an outside midfielder on a wing, we can afford a touch of leeway but if a Callum Mills for example misses out because the panel deems there are three midfielders in the guts that have better years, Mills isn’t an outside player so he can’t be on a wing and if there are another two midfielders on the bench that edge him out, then sorry Callum (or whomever it may be), another level needs to be found to make the side.
All of the media want ruthlessness in our game, be ruthless in selection.
Third tall can go to the interchange
Does anyone care, after six months, where a player was selected in the AA team when it comes to their legacy? Of course not.
Mark Ricciuto is an eight-time All-Australian but no one cares that four were on the bench because it’s irrelevant.
If Charlie Curnow and Tom Hawkins are the two key forwards, Jeremy Cameron gets the bench spot.
If Charlie and Jeremy are the two key forwards, Hawkins can have the bench spot.
The two best small forwards deserve to be as recognised as the two best and not sacrificed because one forward might be agile.
Tom Papley may have had a ripping year and impacted in the midfield a touch but he can have a case for a spot, Charlie Cameron is eighth in the Coleman with 46 goals, and Bayley Fritsch is 10th with 45, while Tyson Stengle has 39 and Luke Breust has 38.
Respect the small forward spots, because their highlight reels are unbelievable.
Poor team defenders get a leg up
Melbourne is sitting third and Carlton is seventh coming into Round 22.
No wonder Steven May is in All-Australian talks, the ball is hardly down there!
If James Sicily, Jack Sinclair, Jordan Dawson and Bailey Dale are in contention with fans and their teams are currently not in the eight, why isn’t Sam Taylor in contention?
The Giants are a mud heap and concede the fourth-most inside 50s of any side, whereas Melbourne averages the second least!
Sam’s shutdown:
Lance Franklin – Round 1 – one goal
Matt Taberner – Round 4 – one goal
Tom McDonald – Round 5 – one goal
Max King – Round 6 – one goal (albeit 1.7 but both players took six marks)
Taylor Walker – Round 7 – two goals
Tom Hawkins – Round 8 – one goal
Charlie Curnow – Round 9 – two goals
Jack Darling – Round 10 – one goal
Nick Larkey – Round 13 – two goals (three marks)
Mitch Lewis – Round 16 – zero goals
Eric Hipwood – Round 18 – two goals
Peter Wright – Round 21 – two goals
Sure, Naughton kicked five in a game in which the Giants conceded 61 inside 50s and Charlie Curnow was dominant with his four goals and 10 marks only a couple of weeks ago but this guy is in a team that has conceded 88.8 points a game and isn’t giving a lot away and deserves his spot.
Before the comment section starts with the ‘if you think it’s so easy, where’s your team?’, I will reveal my side and it wasn’t easy.
It is designed to be difficult and that’s kind of the point. With two weeks to go, here is my All-Australian team.
Full-back line
James Sicily (Hawthorn)
Sam Taylor (GWS)
Jack Sinclair (St.Kilda)
Half-back
Adam Saad (Carlton)
Steven May (Melbourne)
Tom Stewart (Geelong)
Centre
Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)
Touk Miller (Gold Coast)
Andrew Brayshaw (Fremantle)
Half-forward
Shai Bolton (Richmond)
Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)
Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
Forward
Charlie Cameron (Brisbane)
Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
Bayley Fritsch (Melbourne)
Ruck
Jarrod Witts (Gold Coast)
Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
Interchange
Sam Docherty (Carlton)
Rory Laird (Adelaide)
Callum Mills (Sydney)
Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
Rest of the squad (in the club’s alphabetical order)
Jordan Dawson (Adelaide), Patrick Cripps (Carlton), Jacob Weitering (Carlton), Nick Daicos (Collingwood), Mason Redman (Essendon), Peter Wright (Essendon), Brennan Cox (Fremantle), Tyson Stengle (Geelong), Sam Collins (Gold Coast), Dylan Moore (Hawthorn), Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne), Max Gawn (Melbourne), Tom Lynch (Richmond), Jack Steele (St.Kilda), Max King (St.Kilda), Luke Parker (Sydney), Tom Barrass (West Coast), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
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