Matthew Lloyd picks his 2017 All-Australian team after eight rounds
LANCE Franklin or Joe Daniher, Seb Ross or Joel Selwood, Marcus Bontempelli or Clayton Oliver? MATTHEW LLOYD makes some big selection calls on the team of the year (so far).
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LANCE Franklin or Joe Daniher, Seb Ross or Joel Selwood, Marcus Bontempelli or Clayton Oliver?
Please remind me to never question the All-Australian selection panel ever again on a contentious selection because you are splitting hairs when trying to compare one star performer to the next, as I have worked out this week.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MATTHEW LLOYD’S EARLY ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM
We are already more than a third of the way through the home-and-away season so I thought I would put a side together of the players who have been the star performers of season 2017.
West Coast’s Elliot Yeo is having a phenomenal season. Yeo’s exceptional form has him leading the prestigious AFL Coaches Award — unheard of for a defender.
Every other player currently in the coaches’ top 10 plays in the midfield.
Yeo has dominated the air and has become the No. 1 intercept player in the game.
Sam Docherty and Rory Laird have a rare ability to be able to free themselves up in defence and accumulate possessions at will. It is their run and carry though that makes them elite players of the competition, which they have been now for a number of years.
Laird has the second most disposals of any player in the AFL while Docherty has taken more marks than any other player.
Alex Rance and Michael Hurley have been the generals for their respective sides even when their teams haven’t necessarily played their best football.
Hurley is getting better with every game he plays while Rance is fast becoming one of the all-time greats. Honourable mention to North Melbourne’s Robbie Tarrant; he’s next in line because he’s another key defender who is rarely beaten.
St Kilda’s Dylan Roberton has been one of the stories of this season. Roberton is symbolic of his club in that they are both on the rise and at a rapid rate.
Roberton is averaging 25 disposals a match and the opposition has had to employ a defensive forward on him in recent weeks in an attempt to curb his influence.
Brad Hill has been the recruit of the season. Hill has proven just how important he was for Hawthorn and how they have missed him this year.
There is no harder runner in the game and he has been Fremantle’s most consistent performer.
On the other wing is a man every club wants playing for them next season. Josh Kelly is a special player as he a balance and poise to his game that doesn’t come around very often.
Kelly glides across the ground with ease but he also has a toughness about his game which in time will make him the complete footballer.
Dustin Martin and Rory Sloane have been shut down by taggers on a few occasions this year but both men also could have 15 Brownlow votes to their name already.
Martin’s first three rounds were that of a player at the peak of his powers while Sloane was instrumental in the Crows’ six-game winning streak to open the season.
Josh Kennedy and Jeremy Cameron with their consistency select themselves as the key-position forwards while Eddie Betts continues to build his case to be known as the greatest small forward the game has seen.
Betts is just three goals off the leading goal kicker, Cameron, who has 28 for the season.
Toby Greene has let himself down a few times this year but what a footballer he is. Greene may well be the Giants’ most important player as he is the link between the midfield and the forward line and he always hits the scoreboard. Twenty goals from just six matches is hard to argue against.
Round 2 aside, when Gary Ablett and his Gold Coast Suns looked disinterested, the dual Brownlow champion has not played a bad game and he continues to set an amazing standard for himself.
Ablett’s 45-possession game along with 18 clearances against North Melbourne was one of the best performances of any player this year.
Look past the goals Joe Daniher should kick for one second and you will see one of the best performed big men in the game.
Daniher has been adjudged best on ground in Essendon’s two biggest games this season and he is the most destructive forward/ruckmen currently playing the game. He’s kicked 21 goals and is averaging eight marks and is one of the toughest match-ups in the game.
The ruck is interesting — Sam Jacobs just gets the nod ahead of Lion Stefan Martin and Magpie Brodie Grundy — while Zach Merrett has continued his brilliant form of the past 18 months. Merrett rarely misses a target and always makes good decisions with ball in hand.
Seb Ross has become a super player for St Kilda this season, averaging 28 disposals a game. He is one of the key reasons St Kilda is on the rise, making an impact in every game.
Patrick Dangerfield may not be playing the football he played last season but he is still the No. 1 contested possession player in the game and his 12 goals for the season sets him apart from many midfielders who just don’t hit the scoreboard like he can.
Marc Murphy has been Carlton’s best player for a long time and this season is no exception. He has been instrumental in Carlton’s three wins this year and I love how he breaks the lines and kicks more than he handballs, which is becoming rare.
There are so many midfielders around the AFL who accumulate but don’t hurt the opposition like Murphy does.
Marcus Bontempelli is not one of them.
The young Bulldog continues to be one of the most damaging players in the AFL whether it be in the midfield or forward half of the ground.
Like Dangerfield, he kicks goals when his team needs him too and the pressure he puts on the opposition when he doesn’t have the ball is elite and can go unnoticed.
Bontempelli is a universally loved player for how he plays his football and carries himself.
All-Australian for the first time last year, a second nod beckons.
LLOYDY’S EARLY ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM
B: Rory Laird (Adel) Alex Rance (Rich) Elliot Yeo (WC)
HB: Dylan Roberton (St K) Michael Hurley (Ess) Sam Docherty (Carl)
C: Brad Hill (Frem) Dustin Martin (Rich) Josh Kelly (GWS)
HF: Toby Greene (GWS) Josh Kennedy (WC) Gary Ablett (GC)
F: Joe Daniher (Ess) Jeremy Cameron (GWS) Eddie Betts (Adel)
R: Sam Jacobs (Adel) Rory Sloane (Adel) Zach Merrett (Ess)
Inter: Seb Ross (St K) Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) Marc Murphy (Carl) Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
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