2009 All-Australian Team

[The Octopus]

Bower is pretty good. Better than Harry O'Brien, worse than Sam Fisher. Not AA, but not many are.

 

[blues4flag]

I'd probably have him ahead of Kreuzer as well. So top 5 player in a potential top 4 team is a pretty good wrap for a young key defender. Surprised Betts isn't in the top 10.

It's done on a game by game basis. While Betts was kicking his 2-3 goals a game earlier in the season. Has dropped away in the last month but even when he was flying, he didn't do much else than kick the goals so wasn't quite top 5.

Kreuzer's performances have been very admirable - for a second year player to hold up the ruck like he has is an excellent effort. Might have gotten a couple of votes more for effort he showed as opposed to dominating a game. Bower's first few games were ordinary but since the Swans game he's been one of our most consistent performers while Kreuz has barely played a bad game all year.

 

[The Chiefton]

hey FELLA, no i'm not having a laugh ..... i said they would be thereabouts not in the ****in team. What's the problem?

 

[AG]

hey FELLA, no i'm not having a laugh ..... i said they would be thereabouts not in the ****in team. What's the problem?

I find it hard to ignore w***ers, but just ignore him. Gibbs, Lockyer, and Adcock are having good enough seasons for their names to be thrown about.

 

[bigbill]

From Essendon Watson, Lovett and (rank outsider Winderlinch).

Any of these players on the bench

 

[AG]

From Essendon Watson, Lovett and (rank outsider Winderlinch).

Any of these players on the bench

Big call. Watson is the only one who comes close to making the bench. Lovett and Winderlich are behind a fair few.

 

[AG]

To the guy who keeps bagging Bower, I thought he was one of the main reasons Carlton were still in the match. Riewoldt dominated in the 1st half and I'd give him the votes but you can't ignore the fact that Bower fought back and won the battle in the last quarter and a bit. That's the sign of a good player. 1-on-1 he was pretty good and was better when coming out of defence with the ball in his hands. So Riewoldt probably won, but Bower did a lot better than most who play on him.
Dal Santo, Montagna, Hayes and Riewoldt are guns. Gilbert had another good game, so all 5 will stay in the side. Saints just keep marching on.

 

[La Vache]

Montagna, Hayes, Riewoldt and Goddard would be certainties if it were picked now.

Ablett, Selwood and Johnson from Geelong as well.

Judd.

I reckon that's your midfield right there.

R. Sandilands - Judd - Ablett

M. Hayes - Selwood - Montagna

Goddard on the bench.

 

[Knight Ryders]

Nathan Bock should at least be in the squad. When playing he is hardly ever beaten and gives plenty of rebound.

Averaging 24 possessions and 6.5 marks a game in seven games.

If Bock's body holds up, he will definitely be in the side as the CHB. Missing games is the only reason he is not in the side. He has to be the best backmen behind Scarlett - and I would make that only marginally. Makes the right decision so many times it's ridiculous.

 

[AG]

If Bock's body holds up, he will definitely be in the side as the CHB. Missing games is the only reason he is not in the side. He has to be the best backmen behind Scarlett - and I would make that only marginally. Makes the right decision so many times it's ridiculous.

No one is definite. Fisher and Bolton have a very good head start on him for the CHB position. Even Tarrant is ahead of him at this stage.

 

[AG]

• THE Herald Sun would like to state that no money was exchanged in the pursuit of this explosive story.

All we are willing to say is that a very well-placed source inside the AFL leaked this highly sensitive information to us about this year's All-Australian selection process.
(To be truthful, Andrew Demetriou and the rest of his committee forgot to clean the whiteboard after their first meeting of the year last week and our source, who we can't confirm or deny is in the catering business, just happened to be hovering around the boardroom throughout the meeting.)
What can be revealed is that the whiteboard was divided into four sections.

Given the selectors have to come up with a squad of 40 divided into backs, forwards and midfield, there were names scribbled everywhere.
However, to the right-hand side there was a new grouping with the heading "EDDIE".

Yep, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire's long-standing criticism of the team of the year selection process has forced the league to devote a section exclusively to him in an attempt to win him over.
It is going to take a lot since Big Ed is certainly not a fan.

Two years ago he labelled the lack of any Magpie in the squad of 40 a disgrace and that everyone associated with Collingwood had "lost faith in the system".
He added that clearly "someone at our club must have played all right this year" as the Pies were just about to play off in the preliminary final against Geelong, which had smashed the record books, having nine players in the 2007 All-Australian team.
History backs his argument. Collingwood didn't have anyone in the competition's best 22 in 2002 when it played in the Grand Final.

Since 2000, the Pies have had two representatives on only one occasion, in 2003 when Chris Tarrant and Nathan Buckley got the nod.
Last year, in an obvious attempt to start smoothing the waters, Paul Medhurst not only made it into the 40, but went all the way and was named in the forward pocket.
The great news for Ed and his boys at the Lexus Centre this year is that our spy tells us there were five names written underneath his name on the whiteboard.
In a league first, five Collingwood players are under consideration at the halfway mark of the season.
At the top of the list is the unlikely figure of a 31-year-old full-back who has played 206 games and gone relatively unnoticed for 13 years.

Simon Prestigiacomo is considered the second-best tall defender in the business at the minute behind Geelong's Matthew Scarlett, who has a mortgage on the full-back spot.
The fact Presti has conceded only 12 goals in 11 matches has him in the box seat.
The fact Dane Swan has touched the ball more than any other player has him next on the list.
Fellow midfielder Scott Pendlebury is also warranting consideration with impressive stats this season, while Leon Davis has a lot of admirers.
And in one of the most difficult spots for the selectors, Harry O'Brien is in the mix for the lock-down half-back flank role given he hasn't been beaten so far this year.
So there you have it, Ed. FIVE. F.I.V.E.
We tried to ring you, Ed, to pass on the news, but couldn't get through -- we heard you were doing that Millionaire thing again -- so we thought the next best Magpie who would be over the moon would be premiership captain Tony Shaw.
We were wrong.
"I wouldn't think we would have an All-Australian," was Shaw's initial response before Presti's name sparked him off.
"Sorry, I was wrong. Simon Prestigiacomo deserves to be in the All-Australian side, and if they pick Scarlett at full-back, then they should pick him in the back pocket.
"Presti can still play on a small bloke with his leg speed, he's super quick, so he's the one, although his offensive drive may be a bit of an issue."
Shaw said Mick Malthouse's game plan did not lend itself to individual players shining.
"St Kilda and Collingwood are in the top three of taking the ball around wide, having possessions around the boundary line, but then St Kilda are No. 3 from scoring inside the corridor and accuracy, whereas Collingwood are 13 and 15," he said.
"A lot of our players just rack up the possessions because of the style that we play. If it is about accumulation and not hurting people, then Swanny would be the one.
"The thing about stats now is that you can accumulate as much as you like but if you don't penetrate . . .
"Look, Swanny would be in the mix but there are a lot more midfielders that are a lot more penetrating than him, so he might miss out again.
"And Eddie won't like that."
The other interesting piece of information our source passed on is that apparently the introduction of James Hird to the selection team has brought a new heavy-handed approach, with the Bombers champion refusing to allow the name of Matthew Pavlich to appear on the whiteboard.
After having had so many free kicks in regards to the All-Australian team early in his career, the Fremantle captain has been barred so far this season.
There are plenty of other high-profile casualties.

Coleman medallist Lance Franklin is nowhere to be seen, while almost half of last year's team are missing for a variety of reasons.
Tom Harley, Luke Hodge, Nathan Bock, Brent Harvey, Matthew Richardson and Medhurst have all missed plenty of football this season because of injury.
The centre line from last year of Jimmy Bartel, Joel Corey and Adam Cooney is under enormous pressure, even though the Geelong pair have been very good again, because new faces are circling.
Naturally enough the St Kilda and Geelong columns on the whiteboard were bulging.

The Saints have plenty in the mix, led by Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna, Sam Fisher, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke.
Sam Gilbert's name was thrown up, but only briefly, while Clinton Jones, a poor man's version of Cameron Ling, was also mentioned because of his impressive list of scalps, although it was soon howled down with cries of "surely not" and "we can't do that" from some sections of the panel.
The feeling is given Ling has missed a few weeks, if there is to be a push for a "run-with" player this year, then it should be West Coast's Adam Selwood, who has taken his game to a new level.
This suggestion was apparently greeted with much excitement by Demetriou and his offsider Adrian Anderson, who saw a wonderful PR opportunity if they could get brothers into the team, given Geelong's Joel Selwood is a lock to be chosen in the midfield.
Joel made the 40 last year, so he has served his apprenticeship, and while the Cats won't have nine again, they'll go close.

Gary Ablett, Steve Johnson and Scarlett are morals, with Paul Chapman in career-best form and more than overdue for the honour.
Bartel and Corey are still in the mix, while Corey Enright made it into the 22 last year and the mail out of Skilled Stadium is he's going better this year.
Glen Jakovich, the West Australian member of the panel, is understood to have been busy talking up a few boys, despite the Perth teams being 13th and 14th on the ladder.
The feeling is Aaron Sandilands has a lock on the first ruck position, knocking off Dean Cox.
The Eagle is likely to make the team as the second-stringer, with Sydney's Darren Jolly and North's Hamish McIntosh the only other ruckmen thrown up.
A bolter, who had support from several sections, was Chris Tarrant.

The former Pie has been a revelation as a key defender with Fremantle.
"He has only had one bad game," our source from WA said about Taz.
"That aside, he has rarely been beaten and has played on bigs and smalls and fixed up some big names like Tredrea and Fevola.
"He's not in the same class as Scarlett but against other power defenders like Darren Glass and Brian Lake, Tarrant holds his head up against the rest of them."
The other wildcard from the west is Eagles small forward Mark LeCras, who has kicked 27 goals from 10 matches.
"I would say LeCras is going as good as any small forward in the comp, I reckon," one AFL forward scout said.
"He is a very good player and is averaging almost three goals a game playing in front of a s--- midfield."
Adelaide's representative Mark Ricciuto apparently spent most of the meeting dozing off as he had nothing to offer from both of his erratic sides, while the usual suspects, Richmond and Melbourne, also didn't make it on to the whiteboard again.
Maybe it was the presence of Hird, but the Bombers' impressive start to the season was rewarded with bad boy Andrew Lovett getting the nod and even Jobe Watson talked about as a possibility in the midfield.
Despite the Western Bulldogs sitting third, the panel struggled to find solid candidates apart from veteran Jason Akermanis, who slots nicely into the forward pocket.

Lake and midfielder Matthew Boyd were others given some thought.
Premier Hawthorn also had very little loving, with Cyril Rioli, despite now being injured, the most highly rated.

Brad Sewell and Sam Mitchell's names were raised but midfielders elsewhere were deemed to be going better at the minute.
Regular Adam Goodes was Sydney's lock, with Jolly a chance.

Chris Judd led Carlton, with Marc Murphy briefly mentioned, while what to do with Brendan Fevola was a topic that led to much debate.
The power-forward spots are not cut and dried this year, apart from Riewoldt. Fevola leads the goalkicking but the gulf between his good and bad is too far, while Brisbane's Jonathan Brown was spectacular early but is not going as well as he can.
The thought was that maybe Kosi could be the saviour if he keeps going as he has in the past month.
In fact, there was quite a bit of concern overall at the meeting, according to our source, who overheard one of the heavyweights say: "It's a difficult year for us because there are the two standout teams and then not much else. The problem with the teams other than one and two is that they have actually had some very poor footy along the way as well."
The consensus was everything will be a lot clearer by the next meeting, with the chairman deeming the panel's first sit-down an overwhelming success.

"At least we look like making Eddie happy," he said.

Very interesting read. The Eddie bit was funny. Hird hates Pavlich. Buddy gets no love. Surprised Gilbert, Sewell, Boyd were sort of dismissed.

 

[AG]

B: Corey Enright; Matthew Scarlett; Simon Prestigiacomo
HB: Brendan Goddard; Chris Tarrant; ? Harry O'Brien
C: Adam Goodes; Joel Selwood; Leigh Montagna
HF: Leon Davis; Nick Riewoldt; Paul Chapman
F: Mark LeCras; Justin Koschitzke; Steve Johnson
R: Aaron Sandilands; Chris Judd; Gary Ablett
INT: Dean Cox; Lenny Hayes; Nick Dal Santo; Sam Fisher

EMG: Jason Akermanis; Scott Pendlebury; Darren Jolly

Sounds like that's the team they have at the moment.

 

[roosaints]

As a Saints fan i'll be the first to say that is Kosi is named at Full Forward it would be an absolute joke. Franklin, Fev, Brown all kicking more goals, in teams not travelling as well with the number 1 (and often 2) defenders each week. Riewoldt is a lock at CHF but some of these idiots really don't know anything.

 

[AG]

As a Saints fan i'll be the first to say that is Kosi is named at Full Forward it would be an absolute joke. Franklin, Fev, Brown all kicking more goals, in teams not travelling as well with the number 1 (and often 2) defenders each week. Riewoldt is a lock at CHF but some of these idiots really don't know anything.

They always do that. If there isn't a standout just grab someone from one of the top teams. Mooney two years ago springs to mind. I am very surprised the dismissed Franklin. Fev or Buddy should be FF. Also surprised Craig Bolton isn't in serious contention.

 

[raskolnikov]

Gee Eddie's a sook. The AA selectors hate Collingwood? They must absolutely loathe Essendon then. One player on the bench in the last 5 years. Even in 2000 we only had 4 compared to Geelong's dozen.

 

[Falchoon]

Gilbert > Fisher

The only reason Fisher would be in front of Gilbert is the two good years to be noticed theory

 

[smiddaz123]

Gee Eddie's a sook. The AA selectors hate Collingwood? They must absolutely loathe Essendon then. One player on the bench in the last 5 years. Even in 2000 we only had 4 compared to Geelong's dozen.

Yeh....but Essendon have been crap over the past 5 years.....

 

[AG]

Gilbert > Fisher

The only reason Fisher would be in front of Gilbert is the two good years to be noticed theory

I'd say both deserve selection. But I agree with you that Gilbert has been your best defender.

 

[Hollow Knight]

B: Corey Enright; Matthew Scarlett; Simon Prestigiacomo
HB: Brendan Goddard; Chris Tarrant; ? Harry O'Brien
C: Adam Goodes; Joel Selwood; Leigh Montagna
HF: Leon Davis; Nick Riewoldt; Paul Chapman
F: Mark LeCras; Justin Koschitzke; Steve Johnson
R: Aaron Sandilands; Chris Judd; Gary Ablett
INT: Dean Cox; Lenny Hayes; Nick Dal Santo; Sam Fisher

EMG: Jason Akermanis; Scott Pendlebury; Darren Jolly

Sounds like that's the team they have at the moment.

If only Drummond played for a sexy club.

 

[AG]

If only Drummond played for a sexy club.

I know, it didn't say anything about him, but I'd have him in the team. Harry O'Brien has been good but had a pretty bad flat spot a few weeks ago. Drummond would be ahead of him.

 

[raskolnikov]

Yeh....but Essendon have been crap over the past 5 years.....

So have Carlton, Freo and Richmond but they've still had players in. In 2005 Hawthorn had four players in after finishing 15th.

 

[TassieSaint]

If all that was written in that article is correct, it doesn't say much for the selection process. Going out of their way to include pies because Eddie sooks every year is a joke. Gilbert not rated but O'Brien is? Come on.

 

[marcmurphy3]

B: Enright Scarlett Bolton
HB: Goddard Fisher Drummond
C: Montagna Hayes Dal Santo
HF: Davis Reiwoldt (VC) S.Johnson
F: Lecras Fevola Chapman
OB: Cox Judd (C) Ablett
I/C: Sandilands Selwood Goodes Murphy

 

[senrulzisback]

Only reason I wouldn't have Gilbert in my team, is because I really don't respect players that play the loose man in defence role.

Sure it takes good desicion making and foot skills, and Gilbert's improvement this year has been phenomanal, along with many other saints, I just don't respect that role. If the player was that damaging, they would get more attention, or they would get tagged.

 

[AG]

Only reason I wouldn't have Gilbert in my team, is because I really don't respect players that play the loose man in defence role.

Sure it takes good desicion making and foot skills, and Gilbert's improvement this year has been phenomanal, along with many other saints, I just don't respect that role. If the player was that damaging, they would get more attention, or they would get tagged.

He did on Friday night, but the majority of the season he has had an opponent.