THE ROLLING MONGREL PUNT ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM AFTER ROUND FOUR
It’s time for us to throw our hat in the ring, ready for criticism and ridicule. Every pundit and their dog have their opinion on whom the best players are in the league and who should be in a team of the week, etc. Given the questionable state of AFL Media, we should be applying tariffs on other broadcasters to even share their takes. At The Mongrel Punt, we take this seriously. We assess all the permutations, some of the stats, apply the eye test, and just trust our understanding.
So, today reveal our opening iteration of our All-Australian Team for 2025. We don’t just select midfielders who stat pad and have them named out of position. We are big on selection integrity. For our team, players are picked in a position, and their ability to play a role is incorporated. For example, is there a defender who is an intercept specialist? Maybe one who dominates in one-on-one contests … they won’t be overlooked for the half-back-flanker who runs around with no opponent to get 30 disposals and wins the Golden Fist every weekend. No, we seek to pick the best possible version of the side available.
So, with all that said *cue drum roll* here’s the first iteration in 2025 of our Rolling All-Australian Team!
FB: Jack Henry Sam Collins Harris Andrews
HB: Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera Sam Taylor Dayne Zorko
C: Patrick Lipinski Zach Merrett Brad Hill
HF: Touk Miller Ben King Paul Curtis
FF: Jack Higgins Riley Thilthorpe Jesse Hogan
Foll: Tom De Koning Will Day Matt Rowell
Int: Jordan Dawson Tom Liberatore Zach Guthrie Sam Darcy Tom Atkins
I feel like this is a well-balanced side. Now entering my third season of compiling this team, I feel like I’m letting go of the training wheels and finding the confidence to back own my selections. S
o, as a sign of that, I’m going to immediately explain why I don’t have Jack Sinclair in this side at the moment. As I mentioned above in the defender examples, Sinclair is a great offensive weapon from the backline, but he doesn’t defend a whole lot. And yes, the same can be said of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Dayne Zorko … I felt that they offer some additional components to their game (NAS with his foot skills, and Zorko adds some combativeness) that put them slightly ahead of Sinclair in my calculations. This isn’t to say that Sinclair won’t come into the team, just that for his role, I have two others ahead of him.
And the bench spot for a defender was between Zach Guthrie and Ryan Lester… I went with Guthrie because of his all-round ability. Not only can he lock down his opponent, but his ability to intercept and turn defense into attack is better than Lester’s. It wasn’t easy to leave Lester out.
Across the defensive line, we have a mixture of combative key defenders, those who are supreme in one-on-one contests, some who can intercept, and others who can set up the play. I feel like this is a well-rounded group from the first four weeks of play.
Through the midfield, there are a few new names. Unlike recent seasons, the wing roles haven’t been super clear-cut. We’ve seen players float through the wing, then onto the ball, and to half-back, and so on. The choices of Lipinski and Hill make sense given they have primarily stayed on the wings and have been really consistent, and consistently very good. The other midfielders feature accumulators, those who hit the scoreboard, clearance specialists, and, as the 23rd man, a tackling machine who has shut down players such as Lachie Neale and Andrew Brayshaw so far this season. Not to mention, he’s the first player in history to have ten or more tackles in each of his first four games of the season.
Up forward, it’s a reward for effort and reading the play. Jesse Hogan gets in after only two games, because they’ve been dominant. (I’m not engaging in the West Coast being inept witches hat argument this early in the season). The balance could be called into question with three tall forwards, but I believe that all three offer a point of difference to each other. Having Sam Darcy on the bench compounds that discussion, but I will back his selection as it allows Thilthorpe to chop out in the ruck and still have three talls.
Tom de Koning has been the standout ruckman so far in 2025. I considered having Rowan Marshall up forward, but Darcy offers more in that function. Tristan Xerri is also in the frame, and is unlucky. He misses out purely because if I were choosing a ruckman to represent my side right now, it would be TDK because of his agility and around-the-ground ability.
In terms of the bench, we have two mids, a forward, and a defender – plus the 23rd man Tom Atkins. Saints fans are probably justified in their annoyance with no Sinclair and no Macrae, but much like the ruck call, I’d be choosing Jordan Dawson, Tom Liberatore, and all the starting mids ahead of Macrae right now. Libba has been incredible as the Dogs’ stand-in skipper, and Dawson continues to fly under the radar in the eastern states.
The Missing
There are a number of players who have had incredible starts to the season and are probably unlucky to miss. I’ve mentioned Jack Sinclair, Jack Macrae, Rowan Marshall, Ryan Lester, and Tristan Xerri.
They are not alone in being unlucky. There have been some fantastic performances from others, including Bailey Smith, Finn Callaghan, Darcy Fogarty, and youngster Riley Bice. There are reasons for their current omission (Smith, for example, missing a game compared to other mids, and Fogarty being narrowly beaten), but they remain firmly in the frame.
For the next iteration, I imagine both Will Day and Jack Henry will be automatic omissions based upon their injuries over the weekend. They’ve come at an awkward time for each of them. Day will struggle to get back in, given he will miss multiple months. Henry, out for only a few weeks, remains an outside chance if he can recapture his form upon his return.
As always, let us know your team, or who you’d replace and why – don’t just blindly change it because someone in your team wasn’t picked.
Stay tuned for more from The Mongrel Punt, and for additional reasons to tell me I must not watch footy because you don’t like the team I’ve selected.
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