2024 Rolling ALL-Australian Team

[kirbatron]

Very hard team to predict this year so far. This is my team however:

Backline:

Luke Ryan Sam Taylor Lachie Whitfield


Jordan Clark Nick Blakey Max Holmes


Midfield:

Zach Merrett Patrick Cripps Errol Gulden



Forwards:

Isaac Heeney Charlie Curnow Christian Petracca


Kyle Langford Ben King Isak Rankine



Ruck/Rovers:

Max Gawn Marcus Bontempelli Nick Daicos





Interchange:

Dylan Moore Noah Anderson Caleb Serong Chad Warner

I like this but not sure on Langford? (might be snoozing)

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Does he take the best forward though or just the one he can get loose on when required?

I know in the Freo game he played on a broken down tabs and completely smashed him. I'm curious if his contest numbers are similar to others or if he has less as he's sometimes got a different role than the best forward.

Weitering just about always plays on the best forward. Taberner was more about our other defenders being rather skinny so Amiss and Treacy being easier match ups for them.

 

[jakson68]

I’m championing for it but I’m not silly.
Freo had 1 AA In 2013 and 2 in 2015 when we were the best home and away team in the comp.

Well I think at this point in the season, you would have to think you will beat your 2015.

 

[Guardian Hawk]

I like this but not sure on Langford? (might be snoozing)

Probably snoozing Kicked 50+ goals last year and made the AA squad. Has 28 in half a season this year so set to better it/do it again and (a) it's his second year of this level form so more likely to be rewarded and (b) Essendon are doing a lot better with him being their best forward, with selectors strongly favouring high finishing sides.

He may not get in (It's often hard for 'tweeners' as Gunston showed with his 5 squad selections) but he's every chance.

 

[Purple Suit]

Weitering just about always plays on the best forward. Taberner was more about our other defenders being rather skinny so Amiss and Treacy being easier match ups for them.

Fair enough, maybe it will come down to which team is higher on the ladder in the end. It's so close at the moment from 2nd to 11th that anything could happen. Some teams will start to push into top 4 and others will drop, that'll sort out selections.

Well I think at this point in the season, you would have to think you will beat your 2015.

Better than top of the ladder finish and Prelim? I'll take it.

 

[jakson68]

Fair enough, maybe it will come down to which team is higher on the ladder in the end. It's so close at the moment from 2nd to 11th that anything could happen. Some teams will start to push into top 4 and others will drop, that'll sort out selections.


Better than top of the ladder finish and Prelim? I'll take it.

Sorry mate, I was talking AA reps

 

[WilloTree]

Pearce is behind all four in his loss % by a fair margin. He's at 26.8%, which is hardly terrible, but not to Weitering (7.1%), Taylor (11.5%), May (12.5%) or Andrews (14.3%) level. He's ahead of Weitering offensively (more SI and SL) but behind the other three.

You can mount a case of having him ahead of Weitering, but the other three are ahead.

Don't think May will get a nod this year.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

 

[ItzAlex]

Not a bad effort.
I like the inclusion of Moore, though I think Whitfield is only just hanging onto his spot.

Would tend to agree on Whitfield. I just don’t think there are many half backs in the game playing ridiculous right now. I was very close to putting Nic Martin in my side, I just don’t think he’s been better than Holmes and Clark currently

 

[ItzAlex]

Weitering is the best FB defender this year 7% loss rate 1 on 1. It really should be him and Taylor as the two defenders. Daicos is close to the second best wingman unless you want to pick Merrett on the wing (that would be reasonable). Butters yeah agree if he gets in would be an iffy call

Yeah I’m a blues fan and I’d love Weitering in the side. I just think due to missing the start of the year and a bit of iffy form, just don’t think he’s been better than Sam Taylor or Blakey (I’m aware Blakey plays a different role). Happy to be proven wrong.

For mine I did put Merrett on the wing to compensate for another midfielder in the team. Just don’t think Josh Daicos has been amazing to kick out a mid like Merrett and I don’t believe you can kick out Bont, Cripps or others?

Zac Butters is very iffy for mine and is a victim of his high standards but you live and die by the sword.

 

[ItzAlex]

Daicos has been a bit down on last year's form, but as a wingman, I still think he deserves one of the two wing roles. His last month has been great.

Butters, I think, is a victim of his own high standards. We expect more than him from others because of how good he is. I still think he deserves a spot on form.

Weitering is the best key back in the comp and by a fair margin, in my opinion

Yeah but I just don’t subscribe to the fact that if a winger has been good enough. He must occupy the wing spot. You can accomodate for an outside mid like Merrett being put in that position and I sure as hell don’t think Josh Daicos has been better than him or any of the mids listed in my team.

Butters meh, I think he’s been okay. Love him as a player just don’t think he’s better than the other mids listed

 

[cryptor]

Terrible team for just squeezing in extra mids onto flanks and wings. Positions should definitely be named based on who was best performed playing the season in that actual position.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Sam Taylor

15

Sam Taylor

Age

25

Ht

198cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.1

4star

MG

130.5

2star

D

8.0

2star

K

2.5

1star

HB

5.5

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.5

3star

MG

60.8

1star

D

8.6

3star

K

3.0

1star

HB

5.6

4star

M

1.2

2star

T

2.8

5star

MG

110.8

2star

is a brilliant player and one of my favourites, but he's missed 3 full games and the better part of a 4th out 12 so far, so he's well behind a few others not named.

If this is a predictive team then fair enough, but he just hasn't done enough yet.

 

[Back One Out]

Terrible team for just squeezing in extra mids onto flanks and wings. Positions should definitely be named based on who was best performed playing the season in that actual position.

Stongly disagree. I get sick of hearing this tired old crap of picking AA players in their "actual position". What does that even mean anyway when modern players play a variety of roles from week to week, or from quarter to quarter, or even from one minute to the next? (e.g. players like Horne-Francis, Stringer, De Goey who win centre clearances and then push forwards)

Petracca and Bont have both spent plenty of game-time up forward. Versatility is one of their key attributes. They dominate games in the centre and they also go forwards and win games off their own boot. These sorts of players are the BEST players in the comp - better in my opinion than the one-dimensional inside midfield bulls, or the one-dimensional gun forwards

We need to reward the best players for the flexibility they provide their coaches and teammates. You don't leave out the 2 best players in the AFL to in other to accommodate lesser players who aren't as versatile, who mostly play in the one position and who haven't been as good as them anyway this season.


The whole idea of the All-Australian team is to pick the best team possible - the team of the year featuring the season's best performed players. That's the purpose of the whole exercise. It's not the AFL Oscars where we have a bunch of winners in a variety of categories: best wingman... best half back flanker.... best back pocket... best forward pocket...

I think that is rewarding mediocrity. e.g we've had some years when no small forwards have been AA worthy. The AA selectors didn't reward the small forward who had the least-crap season. They picked a mid/fwd who booted 35+ goals, or they fitted in an extra key forward who was unlucky to miss out on CHF or FF

----------------------------------------

I feel similarly about this recent trend of picking 2 wingmen. Specialist wingmen are a very small subset of players. Mostly 2nd and 3rd tier mids who are levels below the AFL's gun midfielders, who basically earn their keep by running their arses off to fill space and get back & defend on the turnovers, or to provide an option for the easy uncontested outlet pass to the "fat side".

Sure, pick one (or two) of them if they dominate games over the entire the season and they truly deserve AA selection. But we shouldn't pick them for the sake of it. Not when you have a plethora of hard-running, silky-skilled, inside/outside gun midfielders like N.Daicos, Anderson, Walsh, Dawson, Merrett, Serong, etc. These guys are match-winners. Why would you leave them out of your AA team in order to accomodate some lesser pleb whose primary attribute is running a good beep test?

The Swans have pretty much relied on their stable centre square set-up of Grundy, Heeney, Warner and Rowbottom, with Gulden playing on the wing. But I think it's bullshit that Gulden should get an automatic selection to the All Australian team purely because he is the only A-grade midfielder who lines up on the wing every weekend. That would owe more to Longmire's fixed team structure than the actual quality of Gulden's play and whether he has truly earned AA selection. (As it stands, he probably has earned it anyway.. But you get my drift...)

 

[Kreuuuzeurns]

I’ll give you Sam Taylor.
But the other 3? Not buying it. May was absolutely monstered at the weekend for example. Andrews - yeah he’s been ok but he’s had bags kicked on him this year a couple of times.
Weitering has already missed about 4 games.

Pearce has comprehensively beaten every key forward he matched up on this year.
The only one the really got a hold of Freo, Jake waterman was on Luke Ryan for most of that game.

Luke Ryan on Jake Waterman… I know third gamer Draper played on Curnow in our game. Now you’re beginning to get to the bottom of it.

 

[BarbieITFC]

Stongly disagree. I get sick of hearing this tired old crap of picking AA players in their "actual position". What does that even mean anyway when modern players play a variety of roles from week to week, or from quarter to quarter, or even from one minute to the next? (e.g. players like Horne-Francis, Stringer, De Goey who win centre clearances and then push forwards)

Petracca and Bont have both spent plenty of game-time up forward. Versatility is one of their key attributes. They dominate games in the centre and they also go forwards and win games off their own boot. These sorts of players are the BEST players in the comp - better in my opinion than the one-dimensional inside midfield bulls, or the one-dimensional gun forwards

We need to reward the best players for the flexibility they provide their coaches and teammates. You don't leave out the 2 best players in the AFL to in other to accommodate lesser players who aren't as versatile, who mostly play in the one position and who haven't been as good as them anyway this season.


The whole idea of the All-Australian team is to pick the best team possible - the team of the year featuring the season's best performed players. That's the purpose of the whole exercise. It's not the AFL Oscars where we have a bunch of winners in a variety of categories: best wingman... best half back flanker.... best back pocket... best forward pocket...

I think that is rewarding mediocrity. e.g we've had some years when no small forwards have been AA worthy. The AA selectors didn't reward the small forward who had the least-crap season. They picked a mid/fwd who booted 35+ goals, or they fitted in an extra key forward who was unlucky to miss out on CHF or FF

----------------------------------------

I feel similarly about this recent trend of picking 2 wingmen. Specialist wingmen are a very small subset of players. Mostly 2nd and 3rd tier mids who are levels below the AFL's gun midfielders, who basically earn their keep by running their arses off to fill space and get back & defend on the turnovers, or to provide an option for the easy uncontested outlet pass to the "fat side".

Sure, pick one (or two) of them if they dominate games over the entire the season and they truly deserve AA selection. But we shouldn't pick them for the sake of it. Not when you have a plethora of hard-running, silky-skilled, inside/outside gun midfielders like N.Daicos, Anderson, Walsh, Dawson, Merrett, Serong, etc. These guys are match-winners. Why would you leave them out of your AA team in order to accomodate some lesser pleb whose primary attribute is running a good beep test?

The Swans have pretty much relied on their stable centre square set-up of Grundy, Heeney, Warner and Rowbottom, with Gulden playing on the wing. But I think it's bullshit that Gulden should get an automatic selection to the All Australian team purely because he is the only A-grade midfielder who lines up on the wing every weekend. That would owe more to Longmire's fixed team structure than the actual quality of Gulden's play and whether he has truly earned AA selection. (As it stands, he probably has earned it anyway.. But you get my drift...)

If we apply a Freo lens to this - would the AA team be better if Sharp (one of the best performed pure wingers this season in the league) was selected ahead of Serong on the wing (as per his position in the AFL.com team).

Well if the team were to ever play a game then Sharp would probably run Serong close - but in 2-3 years time the reflection would always be 'do you remember that 2024 AA team when Jeremy Sharp was selected ahead of Serong!!'

 

[Orange crush]

Sam Taylor is a brilliant player and one of my favourites, but he's missed 3 full games and the better part of a 4th out 12 so far, so he's well behind a few others not named.

If this is a predictive team then fair enough, but he just hasn't done enough yet.

I think you’ve miscounted …. Missed 2 and subbed of with the concussion

 

[FreoGirl]

Jordan Clark​

Clark's new role has seen the young defender flourish in 2024. His season numbers have seen an increase on his career average in almost every key category including; disposals, kicks, handballs, marks, metres gained and AFL Fantasy points, while he broke numerous top career performance numbers in the first 12 games of the season.

Key stats – Competition-wide rankings

#3 for effective kicks (177)
#4 for uncontested marks (88)
#6 for marks (90)
#7 for effective disposals (260)
#11 for effective metres gained (4488)
#12 for rebound 50s (63)
AFL Fantasy Average: 101.3

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Jordan Clark​

Clark's new role has seen the young defender flourish in 2024. His season numbers have seen an increase on his career average in almost every key category including; disposals, kicks, handballs, marks, metres gained and AFL Fantasy points, while he broke numerous top career performance numbers in the first 12 games of the season.

Key stats – Competition-wide rankings

#3 for effective kicks (177)
#4 for uncontested marks (88)
#6 for marks (90)
#7 for effective disposals (260)
#11 for effective metres gained (4488)
#12 for rebound 50s (63)
AFL Fantasy Average: 101.3

This reads exactly like every other Freo defender. Chip chip footy skews these metrics massively.

I actually think Clark has been AA/AA squad worthy, but half of these metrics are absolutely useless given the system Freo plays.

Intercepts, score involvements, intercept marks, one percenters, defensive half pressure acts and tackles all metrics that I'd rate higher than effective kicks, uncontested marks and effective disposals.

Mind you Clark rates fairly well on most of these anyway... He's been very good this season.

 

[Shueygod]

Waterman made Pearce look like a joke.

 

[Yoda_]

This reads exactly like every other Freo defender. Chip chip footy skews these metrics massively.

I actually think Clark has been AA/AA squad worthy, but half of these metrics are absolutely useless given the system Freo plays.

Intercepts, score involvements, intercept marks, one percenters, defensive half pressure acts and tackles all metrics that I'd rate higher than effective kicks, uncontested marks and effective disposals.

Mind you Clark rates fairly well on most of these anyway... He's been very good this season.

this stat alone suggests he tries to move the game forward

#11 for effective metres gained (4488)

 

[GhostofJimJess]

I think you’ve miscounted …. Missed 2 and subbed of with the concussion

Yeah gotcha, hadn’t taken the two byes into account. Still, only 8 1/2 matches played, up against a bunch of defenders who have 11 or 12 is pushing the friendship.

 

[Juddernaut08]

wow the way these freo clowns are carrying on youd think theyd be higher on the ladder

 

[RonnieRaven]

wow the way these freo clowns are carrying on youd think theyd be higher on the ladder

Would be second if gather round wasn’t fixed!

 

[eth-dog]

wow the way these freo clowns are carrying on youd think theyd be higher on the ladder

Ironic, coming from you.