Robbo’s All-Australian team: Why Demon Max Gawn has to be on the field ahead of Pies’ Brodie Grundy
IT WILL be embarrassing if Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy aren’t both in this year’s All-Australian team, but who should be the No.1 ruckman? SEE ROBBO’S ALL-AUSTRALIAN SIDE.
Mark Robinson
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ARGUABLY, the best player in the AFL — Giant Josh Kelly — didn’t make this All-Australian team.
The coach of this team — Collingwood’s Nathan Buckley — has only one of his own players.
The centreman — Carlton’s Patrick Cripps — is from the worst team.
And three players — Richmond’s Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin — came from the best team.
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But they weren’t the most difficult decisions.
Who makes the interchange bench when you have 50 players to choose from, and who is the No.1 ruckman?
It was Brodie Grundy versus Max Gawn and Gawn won out, which means Grundy was relegated to the bench.
The long-held belief the All-Australian team can only carry the one ruckman has to be ignored this season.
Gawn and Grundy, with Tom Mitchell, Cripps, Clayton Oliver and Dustin Martin, can all win the Brownlow Medal and it would be embarrassing for the AFL if it was one of Gawn or Grundy, and the winner was without All-Australian representation.
The coaches have brazenly recognised both players. After Round 21, Gawn was third behind Mitchell and Cripps, and Grundy sixth in the coaches’ votes.
It’s incongruous to imagine one of them being omitted from the All-Australian team.
Separating them was way much more burdensome.
Gawn takes more intercept marks (1.8 to 0.6), wins hitouts to advantage (16.3 to 12.5), kicked more scores (10.11 to 8.8), had more score involvements (6.6 to 6.1) and launched more scores (3.9 to 3.4).
Grundy wins disposals (21 to 16), contested possessions (12.5 to 9) and clearances (5.5 to 3).
Gawn has dominated games with classical ruckwork and Grundy with his extraordinary ground-ball and athletic qualities for a bloke standing 203cm and weighing 103kg.
The ruckwork won out in this team.
The other difficulty in selecting an All-Australian team is the very fact football today is more team performance and system against individual brilliance.
The back half has Alex Rance and Jeremy McGovern as the key defenders, three attacking type defenders in Lachie Whitfield, Shannon Hurn and Rory Laird, leaving one spot for whatever type of player you favour.
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I went with Port Adelaide’s Tom Jonas because he defends strongly and is powerful overhead.
He beat out Hawthorn’s Ben Stratton, Sydney’s Jake Lloyd (another running defender), Tom Stewart from Geelong, Richmond’s Dylan Grimes and Collingwood’s Jeremy Howe.
The centre-bounce midfield picks itself: Cripps, Mitchell, Martin and Gawn.
West Coast’s Andrew Gaff takes one wing and the other goes to Western Bulldog Jack Macrae. Macrae ranks third in the competition for disposals and had 15 30-plus disposal games out of his 18 played.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he is leading the Brownlow Medal after Round 11 after compiling 31, 31, 30, 34, 26, 32, 40, 47, 36, 30 and 31 disposals. His past four games read 33, 40, 36 and 36.
The forward six was also troublesome. Went with Jack Riewoldt, Tom Hawkins and Lance Franklin as the talls, although some may argue Franklin is fortunate and Ben Brown most unfortunate. Luke Breust is the crumber and Jack Gunston the high half-forward.
That high half-forward position is crucial is today’s football and Herald Sun columnist David King has sung the praises of Richmond’s Kane Lambert and Essendon’s Devon Smith. Opted for Gunston because he has kicked 46 goals and is Hawthorn’s second “break glass in emergency” player behind Shaun Burgoyne, in that Gunston often ventures into the defensive 50m.
If the All-Australian selectors can cut corners by picking the team, as they did, before Round 22 is played, then my allowance is Patrick Dangerfield on the other flank. He is a mid-forward who No.1 of any mid-forward for disposals, metres gained, contested possessions, inside-50s, clearances and score involvements.
Yep, Dangerfield is in the team.
The bench is Grundy, Demon Clayton Oliver and North Melbourne’s Shaun Higgins, who ranks fourth of midfielders for metres gained, second for inside-50s and third for score assists. The final spot went to Elliot Yeo who, if he played in the 1970s, would be described as a utility on his footy card.
Probably the most unlucky player to miss this team was Brisbane’s Dayne Beams.
Also unlucky were Isaac Smith for a wing position, Harris Andrews as a key defender, and midfielders such as Callan Ward, Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Zorko, while Kelly missed because he played only 14 games — 15 if counting this weekend, which the All-Australian selectors are not.
The coach of the year is Nathan Buckley because he exceeded expectation and also battled the worst injury list in the AFL.
WHAT THE STATS SAY
Rory Laird (Adel) — ranks second in the competition for intercept possessions and No. 1 for disposals among defenders.
Alex Rance (Rich) — No. 1 in the league for intercept possessions and fourth for spoils.
Tom Jonas (Port Adel) — Rated elite for intercepts, and ranked No. 2 for key defenders for 1 v1 wins.
Lachie Whitfield (GWS) — ranks third for disposals of all defenders and sixth for metres gained.
Jeremy McGovern (WC) — No. 1 in the AFL for intercept marks and sixth for intercept possessions.
Shannon Hurn (WC) — rates elite for intercept possessions, intercept marks and above average for metres gained.
Jack Macrae (W Dogs) — third in the comp for disposals, sixth for groundball gets and 11th for uncontested possessions.
Patrick Cripps (Carl) — No. 1 in the league for contested possessions, second for groundball gets and third for clearances
Andrew Gaff (WC) — ranks No. 1 for any wingman for disposals, uncontested possessions and score involvements.
Jack Gunston (Haw) — rates elite for disposals, uncontested possessions, groundball gets inside 50 and score assists
Lance Franklin (Syd) — leads the comp for goals per game and score involvements, and is third for marks inside 50.
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) — ranks No. 1 of any mid-forward for disposals, metres gained, contested possessions, inside 50s, clearances and score involvements.
Tom Hawkins (Geel) — ranks No. 1 of any forward for overall marks, second for marks inside 50, second for score involvements and third for goals per game.
Jack Riewoldt (Rich) — No. 1 for marks inside 50, third for goals per game, fourth for score involvements and No. 1 for forward-half pressure of any key forward.
Luke Breust (Haw) — rates No. 1 of any small forward for goals, score involvements, groundball gets inside 50, and marks inside 50.
Max Gawn (Melb) — ranks No. 1 for hit-outs to advantage, marks, intercept marks and score involvements of any ruckman.
Dustin Martin (Rich) — is No. 1 of any midfielder for goals and score involvements, and second for score assists.
Tom Mitchell (Haw) — No. 1 in the league for disposals, fourth for contested possessions, third for uncontested possessions and No. 1 for clearances.
Brodie Grundy (C’wood) — is tops among ruckmen for disposals, contested possessions and clearances.
Clayton Oliver (Melb) — ranks No. 1 for groundball gets, second for contested possessions, sixth for clearances, and fifth for pressure points.
Shaun Higgins (NM) — ranks fourth of midfielders for metres gained, second for inside 50s and third for score assists.
Elliot Yeo (WC) — one of only two players to rate elite for pressure, intercept possessions and above-average for goals, among their position.
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