All-Australian 2020: Selectors snub gun Richmond defensive pair Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin as 12 debutants named
All-Australian selectors have come under fire from a host of current and past players for choosing star midfielders in forward roles. Did they make the wrong moves? See the team and have your say.
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The All-Australian selectors have come under fire from a host of current and past players for choosing star midfielders in forward roles and for overlooking specialised wingmen following Thursday night’s awards ceremony.
Much of the focus centred on the decision to name three star mids in Patrick Dangerfield, Dustin Martin and Marcus Bontempelli in the forward line.
Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe tweeted:
Gotta feel for the actual guys who’s “primary†role of half fwd/ fwd pocket are and elite at it just, for it to be filled with “A†grade mids....
— Jeremy Howe (@howie0038) September 24, 2020
The fact that permanent small forwards in St Kilda’s Dan Butler and Sydney’s Tom Papley missed out on selection drew some criticism.
Dangerfield and Martin spent good periods of time playing forward this season, but not so much Bontempelli.
Former Bulldog and Bomber Adam Cooney said:
I love Bont but 11 snags can’t get ya in as a forward https://t.co/vUlpsIILOW
— Adam Cooney (@Adamcooney17) September 24, 2020
Brisbane’s Mitch Robinson was disappointed teammate Hugh McCluggage missed out on a wing spot in favour of Bulldog Jack Macrae and Cat Cameron Guthrie.
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Champion Data stats revealed Macrae spent only four per cent of game time on the wing, with Guthrie spending 17 per cent on the wing.
Herald Sun footy analyst Mick McGuane tweeted: “I’m disappointed with the All-Australian selectors.”
“The wingers role in today’s game is such a specialist position yet they fail to recognise the discipline & selfless nature that comes with the role. Why should players like for eg. (Andrew) Gaff, (Sam) Menegola or McCluggage be overlooked?
Dual premiership defenders Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin were overlooked in favour of others, with Dustin Martin the only Tiger selected in the 2020 side.
It was the first time Richmond hasn’t had a defender in the AFL’s team of the year in six years with the selectors choosing five All-Australian debutants for the six starting backline roles, with another first-time player named on the bench.
In many ways, this changing of the guard was in keeping with the new look, jam-packed awards ceremony on Thursday night, with 12 of the 22 players named being new faces to the side.
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Only seven players – Harris Andrews, Marcus Bontempelli, Dangerfield, Max Gawn, Tom Hawkins, Jack Macrae, Lachie Neale – retained their spots from last year, while Martin was back in the team again after being a controversial omission in 2019.
Geelong, Port Adelaide, West Coast and Western Bulldogs all had three representatives, with 11 clubs represented.
Macrae sympathized with the selectors.
“It’s a bloody hard team to pick, even fitting 50 blokes into 40 is a hard job and I’m just glad to be in the 22,” he said.
“Society is always quick to look at the people who miss out and I think it’s important to enjoy making the team and leave all the commentary to other people.”
Asked how much time the star onballer spent on the wing, Macrae said: “I’m not too sure, you’d have to ask Champion Data”.
The answer was 4 per cent.
Dangerfield, 30, ticked off another first when he was named skipper of the team as he prepares to chase that elusive premiership medallion next month.
It’s yet another huge honour for the star Cat, who has never been full-time captain of an AFL side, but is acknowledged as one of the game’s most inspiring leaders.
Port Adelaide’s ex-captain Travis Boak was named Dangerfield’s vice-captain.
It was the eighth time Dangerfield has won an All-Australian blazer, including six successive selections, bringing him level with his teammate Gary Ablett Jr.
It also draws him closer to record holders Craig Bradley (Carlton), Stephen Kernahan (Carlton) and John Platten (Hawthorn), who were selected in 10 All-Australian teams during their illustrious careers.
Most of the pre-awards conjecture centred on the battle in defence with a host of players competing for available spots.
Andrews retained his 2019 fullback role, while Brad Sheppard (West Coast), Luke Ryan (Fremantle), Nick Haynes (Greater Western Sydney), Darcy Moore (Collingwood) and Darcy Byrne-Jones (Port Adelaide) were chosen for the first time.
Bulldog Caleb Daniel was also rewarded for his fine season with a spot on the bench.
Moore’s teammate Brayden Maynard was very stiff to miss out after an outstanding season for the Magpies, while Carlton’s Jacob Weitering and Essendon’s best and fairest Jordan Ridley were also in contention.
Last year‘s All-Australian captain Nat Fyfe was overlooked, while a four-game injury stint on the sidelines cost Scott Pendlebury another berth.
Melbourne’s ’Bluey’ Truscott Medallist Christian Petracca was acknowledged for his breakout season by winning a starting midfield position alongside Brownlow Medal favourite Lachie Neale, Boak and ruckman Nic Naitanui.
Demon Max Gawn was named on the bench as a backup to Naitanui.
Power forwards Charlie Dixon and Tom Hawkins were chosen as the main spearheads, with mid-forwards Dangerfield, Martin and Marcus Bontempelli providing a mouth-watering attack.
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The forward line was rounded out with Liam Ryan in the forward pocket, who beat St Kilda’s Butler and Sydney’s Papley for the small forward spot, despite marginally kicking fewer goals than the pair.
Cam Guthrie starts on the wing in his first All-Australian side, while fellow debutants Jack Steele (St Kilda) and Taylor Adams (Collingwood) won slots on the bench.
Butler looked like a lock midway through the season but could manage only three of his 27 goals in the last four matches.
West Coast’s Andrew Gaff, Geelong’s Sam Menegola and Mark Blicavs, and Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage were among those unlucky to miss out, despite having strong seasons.
SHOULD BEST DEFENDER AWARD BE NAMED AFTER FRAWLEY?
—Kevin Sheedy
There is no defence for ignorance … that’s why the AFL must start recognising a group of players crucial to the game, but cruelly neglected in the modern era.
We’re in the middle of awards season at the moment, but there’s a hardworking bracket of footballers often overlooked and at times even ignored.
This needs immediate redressing at AFL HQ.
The Brownlow Medal will be awarded next month … to a midfielder, it always is.
The Leigh Matthews Trophy – the AFL Players’ Association’s MVP – is the same.
The Coleman Medal rewards the most prolific goalkicking forward of the season, and this year it was won by Geelong’s Tom Hawkins.
Congratulations to Tom as he has enjoyed another fine season, even if his tally of 42 goals is the lowest league leading goalkicker tally since 1918, when the last global pandemic began to impact on the world.
So, where’s the accolades for the defenders, who have been responsible for keeping AFL scores at such low levels in a very different 2020 season?
The AFL’s best defenders get little recognition, other than six slots in the All-Australian team – to be announced on Thursday – or sometimes even fewer as selectors consider whether they can get away with naming an extra midfielder on a halfback flank just to squeeze him in, even though he never plays there.
I’ve had enough of this blatant disregard of footy’s unsung heroes.
It’s time to strike a medal in honour of backmen, who help win flags as much as anyone else and yet who are constantly overshadowed by an obsession with midfielders and a blinding fascination with forwards.
In my view, it is time for the Gavin Wanganeen Medal.
That would be a fitting name, but I’m open to suggestions.
Let’s look at some of the best known defenders of the modern era.
Glenn Archer was the Shinboner of the Century, but didn’t win a best and fairest.
Shaun Burgoyne has been a star for two sides, but again hasn’t won a best and fairest.
My old Richmond teammate Francis Bourke played on the wing before becoming a great defender.
Bruce Doull was a champion for Carlton, and he hardly uttered a word on or off the field, so he has to be considered one of the game’s greats.
So, too, North Melbourne’s David Dench.
Maybe a medal would be a way to honour the late Danny Frawley.
As good as he was, Danny didn’t have the CV of a Wanganeen or a Doull, but he was an old-style defender who used his media platforms to create the ‘Golden Fist’ trophy, giving long overdue praise to backmen.
The Dustin Fletcher Medal? I don’t mind the sound of that.
He’s the only defender to play 400 games and if I can arrange that, his mum might take it as an apology for me sending him in as a schoolboy against the likes of Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall, Gary Ablett Sr, Wayne Carey and other man-mountain forwards.
Peter Knights was a dashing defender for Hawthorn, Glen Jakovich was so good he was the only player to regularly beat Carey, while Andrew McLeod won two Norm Smith Medals from defence.
Kevin Murray was Fitzroy’s ‘bulldog’ defender.
He gave the Lions hope when they had none, and while he played as a ruck-rover when he won the Brownlow Medal as a 31-year-old, he was a star defender who was halfback in the AFL’s Team of the Century.
The SOS Medal? Stephen Silvagni was named as the fullback of the 20th century, even though he kicked more than 200 goals when he went forward on regular occasions.
Matthew Scarlett was a modern day version, and was a star for the Cats.
For me, though, Wanganeen is the right fit.
He won a Brownlow Medal from the back pocket with Essendon in 1993 and almost won another Brownlow a decade later with Port Adelaide, missing out by a vote in one of the closest counts in history.
He is a great leader of the indigenous community and was the last legitimate defender to win the Brownlow.
Only five full-time defenders have taken ‘Charlie’ home in the past 60 years – Wanganeen (1993), Bulldog Brad Hardie (1985), North Melbourne’s Ross Glendinning (1983) and Blues Gordon Collis (1964) and John James (1961).
The AFLPA MVP snub is even worse.
Since it was first awarded in 1982, only two permanent defenders have won it – Adelaide’s Andrew McLeod in 2001 and Fitzroy’s Paul Roos in 1986.
Both McLeod and Roos went into Brownlow Medal counts as overwhelming favourites but didn’t win.
Club best and fairests paint a fairer picture of defenders’ worth, evidenced by Jordan Ridley’s win in Essendon’s Crichton Medal during the week.
Coaches know the importance and worth of defenders, and reward them with votes in best and fairests.
It’s different in external medals set up and run by the AFL where defenders are forgotten about all the time.
Is that arrogance or ignorance? Well, ‘a’ comes before ‘i’, so it has to be the former.
The midfield mafia almost always win the AFL medals; the power forwards win careers in the media.
Take a look at the number of key forwards who hold down roles on television.
I call them ‘dirty dozen’ – there’s BT, Richo, Carey, Dunstall, Dermie, Lloydy, Lynch, Jakovich, Pavlich, Tredrea, Mooney and even ruck-forward Luke Darcy.
Danny Frawley was the exception to the rule.
Defenders tend to become coaches.
That’s why if I was striking a Wanganeen Medal – or whatever you want to call it – I would be getting a panel of ex-AFL coaches (who had been defenders) to cast their votes each week on the best defensive performances of the round.
C’mon Gill, let’s make it happen in 2021.
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Originally published as All-Australian 2020: Selectors snub gun Richmond defensive pair Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin as 12 debutants named