Well, the All-Australian team has been named and we all move on.
Not quite.
As usual, selections have left many people shaking their heads, as some questionable decisions and omissions, as well as the captaincy being awarded to someone who is not even a club leader, seem to have further diluted the honour.
Anyway, today I’d like to recognise those who didn’t make the cut.
Not that these blokes are any less worthy than those who we named; it is just that those making the decisions opted to choose differently.
Without further ado, HB has the All-Australian B-Team.
BACKS – JOSH WORRELL CALLUM WILKIE DAYNE ZORKO
Hard to knock these three. Any of them would have been at home in the A-team… maybe right alongside Hannibal and BA Barracus.
HALF-BACKS – NICK VLASTUIN MARK KEANE LACHIE ASH
Vlastuin was the sentimental pick, but I can see why he missed. He deserves his spot here, but I would have had him fifth or sixth in line,
Keane was completely shafted, whilst Lachie Ash probably finished the season a little poorly compared to his first 20 or so weeks, and the goldfish selectors took note. It’s amazing that someone can have a couple of average weeks in the last month, and miss, but another play can miss the entire first month and a bit, and… no worries, you’re in! A big hello to Bont.
CENTRES – JARROD BERRY TOM GREEN OLLIE DEMPSEY
Two wingmen who play on the wing. More on that later.
Tom Green has been excellent for the Giants, but as always, the midfield is STACKED when it comes to AA selections. Hard to begrudge selectors leaving him out.
HALF-FORWARDS – TOBY GREENE MITCH GEORGIADES PAUL CURTIS
Disappointed to see Toby miss. He has been such a star for the Giants, and perhaps with Hogan/Cadman now hitting the scoreboard more often, selectors downplayed his contributions?
Georgiades was the bright light for Port. He held up his end of the bargain this year in a poor team, and even though I don’t think he deserves the A-Team spot, he absolutely deserves this one.
And Paul Curtis… he just needs to rein in his aggression a bit to make the first team. Or fuck it… keep it and play on the edge, mate – I like players with a bit of mongrel in them.
FORWARDS – JAMIE ELLIOTT BEN KING BEN LONG
Pies fans would feel hard done by – Elliott had a massive year, and was probably let down by a tail off in form that mirrored his club over the last five or so weeks.
Ben King, I’ll cover below, whilst Ben Long is a player that you simply cannot assess on stats, alone. The impact he has by the way he competes, crashes into opponents, and brings the ball to ground… he has been incredible for the Suns this season. I reckon he is built for finals – he will either play a massive role in getting the Suns over the Dockers, or get reported trying.
FOLLOWERS – BRODIE GRUNDY TOM LIBERATORE JOSH DUNKLEY
No other ruck should displace Gawn – that was a good call from the selectors. Grundy gets this spot over Xerri (bench) as he played a couple of extra games than the North big man, and probably should have secured a bench spot over one of the FOUR mids the selectors threw onto the interchange.
Libba, I’m including because I have seen him miss out too many times. Clug got in – it has been a long wait, but Libba… he’ll retire without an AA selection. Finally, Josh Dunkley… a two-way mid in a successful team. The Lions have stars aplenty, but Dunks has his work boots on every week. If you need something fixed, he’s the man to do it.
INTERCHANGE – JOSH DAICOS TRISTAN XERRI ZAK BUTTERS FINN CALLAGHAN AARON NAUGHTON
Daicos was unlucky not to be selected. Got thrown into the guts a bit, which both enhanced his reputation, and detracted from what he produced of half-back. Basically, he did what Nasiah was doing, but didn’t do it as well.
Xerri gets in because the gap between him and Grundy was so minimal, it would be a crime to leave him out. Butters is a little contentious, as he lacked scoreboard impact this season (just one goal for the year), but if I left him out of the B-Team, I fear my fellow Mongrel, Matt Oman, might lynch me. And the final two spots go to Finn Callaghan, who made the step in 2025, and Aaron Naughton, who produced in a massive way down the stretch to breathe life into the carcass of the Western Bulldogs.
A ruck, two mids, a defender, and a forward.
Balance.
Funny how people see things, huh?
Righto, now that’s out of the way, if we had a look at the actual team, how do you think this one would fare?
Here are a couple of things I want to point out, without writing until my fingers bleed.
GENUINE WINGMEN
Had someone state on our socials that the official AA team had actual wingmen in it.
Not the case.
Hugh McCluggage has not played on the wing for the better part of four years. Stating he is a wingman is like stating that David Neitz should have been named in defence after he won a Coleman because he used to play there. Clug was an excellent wingman… five years ago. He is now an excellent midfielder. Deserved his spot as a mid, this year. Congrats.
Truth be told, for once, I actually agree with the decision to skip naming wings. None of them had blindingly good years, with Gulden injured, and Josh Daicos moving to half-back. Berry was the best of them, as he is a two-way worker. Dempsey is the best offensive wing in the game, whilst Massimo D’Ambrosio is the best defensive wing in the competition. I went for Berry/Dempsey, as they were the top two ranked in our Robert Flower Wingman of the Year Award – keep an eye out for final standings this weekend.
BEN KING
A bit of a throwback to an age when the full forward was meant to stay close to goal and, you know… kick bloody goals!
Now, we kind of see full forwards roll up to the wing, double back, make six leads, and the poor buggers are spent halfway through the second quarter.
Not King. He rarely leaves the attacking 50, and it resulted in the second-highest number of goals for the year. I am a Hawks man, but he basically did what Jack Gunston did at Hawthorn… but did it better. A bit of sentimentality in the Gunston pick, I reckon.
Ben King should hit September with a point to prove.
THE CROWS DEFENSIVE PAIR
I have to admit, I was very disappointed to see Josh Worrell and Mark Keane left out of the actual team.
Keane has been a rock in the back 50 for the Crows. So much so, that he has forced a bit of a shakeup of their first-picked defensive lineup. It was always supposed to be Murray and Butts as the two keys, but Keane has muscled his way in and had a ripping season. He finished seventh in our Defensive Player of the Year Award, and was second only to Harris Andrews in terms of big defenders.
I love Sam Taylor, but he missed a heap of footy. Keane was there every week.
As for Worrell, you could have easily switched Josh Battle out for him, and nobody would have batted an eyelid. Battle was a bit of a surprise selection, but given the choice, I would take Worrell’s season over his, every day.
THE CAPTAINCY
Can we just come out and state that this is now a career-achievement award?
In the last seven years, we’ve had Buddy named Skipper, and let’s be honest… Buddy couldn’t lead a Frenchman to a brothel.
Then we had Tom Hawkins as captain.
And now, Jeremy Cameron.
Guys… if you’re looking at making this a thing, do it at the Hall of Fame ceremony. That’s where you honour a career – not in an award that is supposed to be for leadership in a specific season.
You had Jordan Dawson, Max Gawn, Marcus Bontempelli, Noah Anderson, and Harris Andrews, all in the side – all captains of their own team.
As per Jez’s own words, he has never been captain of anything. He is not a leader. I am of the opinion that bestowing this honour on people who clearly don’t walk the walk, cheapens it. For me, Jordan Dawson should have been AA captain. The leader of the team that finished top, and a player who would impose himself on a game… that’s who deserves the honour for this season.
Keep the lifetime achievement awards for another time.
AND FINALLY… FOUR MIDS ON THE BENCH
Gutless, by selectors. Just weak.
If these blokes are not good enough to get a spot on the field, you don’t throw four of them a bone.
You pick one, a backup ruck, a defender, and a forward. That’s how you make a balanced bench. Who you leave out… well, that’s a matter of opinion. I would have Bont out, on the number of games missed. That opens up one spot. Maybe one of Keane and Worrell get in there.
I’d probably see Serong miss, as well. Jamie Elliott or Ben King would take his spot.
Suddenly, the bench looks a little more balanced.
Anyway, naming four mids on the bench is a cop out.
Oh, and quickly, big congrats to Daniel Hoyne and Champion Data for getting Ed Richards into the team. I have seriously seen a stats-driven campaign like this before. Incredible stuff. I’ve been saying it all year, but when it comes to the Dogs’ midfield, Richards is not even the best they have. I’d seriously have him as the third mid.
Not even the best drummer in The Beatles.
How would I rate the effort of selectors out of ten?
About a six. They lose points for the captaincy decision, the Bailey over Elliott choice, the weird Josh Battle selection, and four mids on the bench.
Do you think they watch a lot of games?
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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