All-Australian team 2024: The six biggest snubs examined, inside the AFL Awards
Curnow or Waterman? Merrett or Treloar? We examine the six biggest questions from this year’s All-Australian team and whether the selectors got it right.
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Nothing guarantees annual debate like the release of the All-Australian team.
Fans were swift to react to the release of this year’s side, which did not feature Coleman Medal runner-up Charlie Curnow, Brisbane defensive linchpin Harris Andrews, Essendon captain Zach Merrett or breakout Hawk Massimo D’Ambrosio.
We examine the six biggest calls the All-Australian selectors made and whether they got it right.
CHARLIE CURNOW VS JAKE WATERMAN
THE CASE FOR CURNOW: The Blues spearhead finished four goals ahead of Waterman, kicking 57 to the Eagle’s 53. Curnow played one more game than Waterman and averaged more contested marks (2.1 vs 1.6), score involvements (7.1 vs 6.3) and score assists (0.8 vs 0.7).
THE CASE FOR WATERMAN: Waterman outdid Curnow for scoreboard accuracy, forward-50 marks and kicking efficiency.
OUR VERDICT: Curnow was unlucky to miss out. Waterman kicked 12 of his 53 goals against top-eight teams, while Curnow booted 28 of his 57 against this year’s finalists.
HARRY SHEEZEL VS NICK BLAKEY VS LUKE RYAN
THE CASE FOR SHEEZEL: Sheezel (29.8) averaged more disposals than both Ryan (24.3) and Blakey (21.3) and more score involvements (5.2). He averaged 10 contested possessions compared to Ryan (4.1) and Blakey (4.2).
THE CASE FOR BLAKEY: The firestarter from defence in the best team of the home-and-away season. Averaged more intercepts (6.3) than Ryan (5.8) and Sheezel (3.7).
THE CASE FOR RYAN: He’s unfairly categorised as a kick-in merchant or stat padder by some. This year Ryan went at 87.8 per cent by foot, averaged 532 metres gained and 5.8 intercepts a match. He ranks elite for disposals, intercepts, kicking and metres gained.
OUR VERDICT: Could you have really named Sheezel as a defender? The rising Roo played about 40 per cent of time in defence and 35 per cent as a midfielder this year. Despite some conjecture about his impact, Ryan was one of the highest-rated backmen this year. You can mount a strong argument Sheezel should have been chosen over Blakey though.
HARRIS ANDREWS VS JACOB WEITERING VS JEREMY MCGOVERN
THE CASE FOR ANDREWS: Had a better year than 2019 and 2020 when he was All-Australian, recording more disposals, intercepts and marks a game.
THE CASE FOR WEITERING: The Blues defensive general lost only 11.3 per cent of his one-on-one contests this year, compared to Andrews (14.1 per cent) and McGovern (25.6 per cent).
THE CASE FOR MCGOVERN: Held up in a team which was under siege for much of the year, averaging more disposals (20.6), rebound-50s (7.3) and intercepts (7.9) than Andrews or Weitering. It’s worth noting some of those numbers were inflated by kick-ins though.
OUR VERDICT: Three key defenders in the All-Australian team seems too many, doesn’t it? This was a year where you could have justified picking all three, with Andrews or McGovern in a back pocket. McGovern, for example, often played in a team with Harry Edwards and Tom Barrass.
TRISTAN XERRI VS MAX GAWN
THE CASE FOR XERRI: The North Melbourne ruckman edged Gawn for contested possessions (12.6 vs 12), hit-outs (34.5 vs 34) and clearances (6.6 vs 5). He averaged 7.5 tackles a game to Gawn’s 2.6.
THE CASE FOR GAWN: Gawn’s hit-outs won percentage (46.7 vs 43.4) and hit-outs to advantage percentage (13 vs 10.9) were higher than Xerri’s. He also had more score involvements (5.2 vs 4.1) and marks (5.2 vs 2.9) per game.
OUR VERDICT: On his ruck numbers alone, Gawn had to make the side. Xerri’s numbers compare favourably to Nic Naitanui’s 2021 campaign, the last time two genuine ruckmen made the All-Australian side. Xerri on the bench instead of Butters, Treloar or Whitfield would have been justifiable.
ZACH MERRETT V ADAM TRELOAR
THE CASE FOR MERRETT: Merrett had a better kicking efficiency (61.8 per cent vs 54.7 per cent), averaged more metres gained (446m vs 408m) and inside-50s (4.7 vs 4.5) than Treloar.
THE CASE FOR TRELOAR: Treloar averaged more disposals (31.7 vs 28.2), contested possessions (11.9 vs 9.6) and effective disposals (22.8 vs 19.6) than Merrett this year.
OUR VERDICT: Their numbers — and impact — this year have been incredibly similar. Almost impossible to split, but hard to deny Treloar his first All-Australian jacket.
MASSIMO D’AMBROSIO VS NICK DAICOS
THE CASE FOR D’AMBROSIO: For starters, he’s an actual wingman. D’Ambrosio spent 87 per cent of his game time on a wing this season — Daicos was 1 per cent. The breakout Hawk ranks elite for disposals and kicks and above average for contested possessions, scoreboard impact and metres gained. Widely considered the No. 2 wingman of 2024 behind Errol Gulden.
THE CASE FOR DAICOS: He would surely have been one of the first players picked in the team. Should he have been picked on a wing? Probably not. But 2023 — when Josh Daicos and Gulden were named on wings — was an outlier rather than the norm when it comes to All-Australian selection.
OUR VERDICT: Players have been picked out of position as long as the All-Australian team has existed. D’Ambrosio was the second best wingman this year but not sure he commands a spot ahead of Treloar, Lachie Neale or Zak Butters on the bench. Daicos would have been one of the first picked.
INSIDE THE AFL AWARDS: FAMILY, CHEERS AND BEERS SNUBBED
— Josh Barnes
Even on a night that is really about winning blazers, the AFL Awards were all about family.
Breakthrough Geelong defender Lawson Humphries arrived at Centrepoint on Thursday with a group of family and friends and wearing his grandfather Brian’s 1954 WANFL representative blazer.
Humphries confirmed to the Herald Sun that the blazer was the exact one his “Pops” wore 70 years ago, in the second-last season Brian Humphries played for West Perth before his 102-game career was cut short as he moved abroad.
Humphries fit the jacket like a glove and said there had been no tailoring done.
First-time All-Australian Chad Warner also enjoyed a family moment, when his parents Trevor and Anita flew over from Perth just to see their newly minted team-of-the-year Swan.
The Warners caught up just outside the entrance before the event, with the parents planning to watch the Fox Footy telecast of the awards from a nearby bar before catching up with Chad again.
Perhaps Warner’s folks can recount the story of how they met again, given Chad admitted on stage with Mark Howard he had forgotten it.
Don’t worry Swans fans, the star midfielder-forward wasn’t going to tie one on with his parents – the four Sydney All-Australians were back home on Friday for training.
The never-ending debate in the room was about wingers, with the selectors opting for only one “true” winger in the All-Australian side.
Hawk Massimo D’Ambrosio was pencilled in on many predicted teams on the thought the selectors would pick two wingers, but Nick Daicos was chosen opposite Errol Gulden instead.
Gulden, now clearly the spokesman for all things wing as the preeminent outside player in the game, pushed the case of those who run the miles outside.
“I’d argue the wing is one of the harder spots,” Gulden quipped.
“Good to see Nick on the other wing, he played the last five minutes of the game against the Dees there on the weekend and it was good to see him rack it up.”
Selector Nathan Buckley thought the team was “95 per cent” right so no doubt the wing debate pulsated through meetings.
Tyson Stengle was seen by some as a snub given he led the league in goals from true small forwards with 42, but Hawk Dylan Moore was seemingly chosen over him in a forward pocket.
The crowd wasn’t feeling the snub though – Moore was the only player to get a singular cheer from the back of the room.
Jeremy Cameron provided the best laugh of the night, when rising star winner Ollie Dempsey finished his speech by saying that “Jez” told him to thank the tribunal for eliminating Harley Reid and Sam Darcy from contention for the award.
Cameron was at it again just after being named in the All-Australian side.
When asked by Jack Riewoldt about his plans for the second half when he had seven goals in his bag against West Coast on the weekend, Cat Jeremy Cameron said his coach Chris Scott told teammates “there is other forwards out there”.
Scott, in jest, could be seen complaining that he knew Cameron would make it “my fault” for not kicking a bigger bag than his nine.
And for a second year running... pic.twitter.com/sbyv6XMUBR
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 29, 2024
Even in the All-Australian team, the defenders don’t get the love the forwards do, with the back six forced to sit on stage for 45 minutes as the rest of the team was announced.
That meant Luke Ryan had to flaunt the bright white sneakers he wore by mistake, stuffing up the cocktail dress code, and Jeremy McGovern had to duck out of the way of the camera multiple times as it honed in on midfielders in the back rows.
The coaches in the room, among them Scott, Adem Yze, Sam Mitchell, Simon Goodwin and Adam Kingsley, all sat on a group of only a few tables, with Goodwin parked next to AFL footy boss Laura Kane for much of the night.
Lions supremo Chris Fagan was the last coach still at the venue as lingerers enjoyed a couple extra drinks.
All players bound for the finals next weekend stuck to the waters at Centrepoint.
The ever-polite Dempsey, while still wearing the Ron Evans Medal handed out to the rising star, had to turn down an enthusiastic waiter working the room and saying “can I tempt you with a beer”, when the ceremony concluded.
Thankfully for presenters there was no autocue issue this year although AFL CEO Andrew Dillon held his nerve when announcing Marcus Bontempelli and Patrick Cripps as All-Australian captain and vice-captain.
The teleprompter just listed “Xxx” instead of either of their names, but working in Dillon’s favour was the fact that Bontempeli had finished just in front of Cripps in both the AFLPA MVP and the AFLPA best captain award earlier, so it was a natural quinella.
Spare a thought for Bontempelli, not only was his table covered in awards, the winner of each award had to duck out for a photo with their trophy so ‘the Bont’ spent more time outside the room than in it.
But the ever affable Dogs skipper did the right thing as always and was happily posing for photos again at the end of the night as his partner Neila waved at him from the exit.
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