Mark Robinson analyses the midfield debate for this year’s All-Australian team
All-Australian selection has never been this difficult. MARK ROBINSON names the 15 contenders for the midfield spots and breaks down the locks and who might miss out.
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How do 15 midfielders fit into nine All-Australian spots?
They can’t – and that’s the conundrum facing the AA selectors when they next meet on August 12.
There’s unlucky players every year, but this year’s crop of midfielders shapes to be one of the most fiercely debated. Certainly, in Jude Bolton’s tenure as a selector.
“It’s bloody hard because they’ve all got rights to win their representation,’’ Bolton said. “This feels as hard as it’s been.”
The panel met mid-year for what Bolton called a “place-marker” and expects the upcoming meeting to be “robust”.
“This is where the back-and-forth happens,” Bolton said. “This is a sharpening of the minds which I really look forward to.”
The fact that teams outside of Sydney and Carlton have experienced topsy-turvy seasons, meaning some players have been in and out of prominence.
“Ratings come into affect, but you’re also looking at who they’re matching (up) on – are they flicking in and out of the square? Are they having more impact going forward? There’s multiple things that go into it,” Bolton said.
“There’s players who have such prominent season.”
The team will contain three starting midfielders, two wingmen, almost certainly two half-forward positions, and more than likely two of the four interchange spots.
Two of the three starting midfield positions will go to Patrick Cripps and Marcus Bontempelli and the debate around the other spot will centre on Nick Daicos, Lachie Neale, Caleb Serong and Zach Merrett.
For argument’s sake, let’s go with the dual Brownlow medallist who has been crunched into second-favourite for this year’s medal. Neale is $6.50, behind Cripps ($2.50) and ahead of Bontempelli ($7), with Daicos and Merrett next ($8).
One wing position will go to Sydney’s Errol Gulden, which would be his second AA selection. The other wing spot is up for grabs.
Gulden’s teammates – Chad Warner (29 goals) and Isaac Heeney (23 goals) – will likely be pushed to half-forward.
So, for the one wing spot and two interchange spots, the selectors will grapple over Daicos, Serong, Merrett, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel, Adam Treloar, Zak Butters, Noah Anderson and possibly even Hayden Young, who has lit up the past six weeks.
Daicos is a lock. So is Serong, surely. He’s the linchpin in arguably the best-performing midfield in the competition. In fact, the Dockers’ crew is on-track to record the best clearance differential in a season. This year, it is +8.5 against the opposition. The next best mob is the Bulldogs (+8.5 in 2022), Adelaide (+7.7 in 2002) and Adelaide (+7.6 in 2001).
Serong is not ignored by the coaches, either. He is running fourth in their champion player award behind Heeney, Cripps and Daicos.
Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne first put Sheezel on the All-Australian agenda. That was a month ago. On Sunday, he had 35 touches and kicked two goals against the might of Carlton’s midfield.
Daicos averages 30 disposals a game and Sheezel 29. Their player rating, which focuses on impact, has Daicos fourth-best in the competition with a 17.4 average, while Sheezel is a top 25 player with 14.7 average.
“Sheezel has been wonderful,” Bolton said. “He’s found a way though stoppages to go back and slot goals.”
He has played 44 per cent at halfback, so that’s also an option for selectors.
Of the others in the midfield posse, Treloar is having a career-best year with a player ratings average of 16.2, which is equal with Gold Coast pair Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell, and Merrett and Davies-Uniacke are equal on 16.7.
Young is rocketing northwards, with a 15.6 average.
By our calculation, Cripps, Bontempelli, Neale, Daicos, Serong, Heeney, Warner and Gulden are AA locks, leaving Merrett, Davies-Uniacke, Sheezel, Butters, Treloar, Anderson and Young to fight for the empty wing position and the last spot on the bench.
“You are literally going to overlook someone who … could come back and finish top-two in the Brownlow,” Bolton said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but that’s why we’re there for.”
Originally published as Mark Robinson analyses the midfield debate for this year’s All-Australian team
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