AFL All Australian 2023: Our experts name their best team for the season

Every year, the All-Australian team is one of the most hotly-debated AFL announcements. Our experts reveal the players selectors shouldn’t have overlooked. Plus, have your say.

Who makes the final All Australian side?

The AFL on Monday named a squad of 44, featuring a number of surprises and at least one player from every club.

But in such an even 2023 season, cutting down the squad is a challenge.

The official team will be announced at the league’s AFL Awards night on Wednesday, but our experts have picked their own sides now.

Who got it right?

Jay Clark: Hope Tom Liberatore gets recognised for his stellar season with selection in an all Western Bulldogs engine room. Will be remarkable if Dustin Martin is overlooked and Toby Greene should make the leap from footy villain to All-Australian captain after an inspirational and disciplined season. The growth in him has to be celebrated. Tom Stewart and Zach Merrett unlucky. Nick Larkey deserves his spot for making the most of his limited chances.

Dustin Martin was at his brilliant best against the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

Sam Landsberger: Suspect Callum Wilkie will miss the official team. He should not because he is St Kilda’s defensive rock. ‘Libba’ is not only in, but in the starting 18 while not sure Jack Viney and Dustin Martin’s campaigns have been truly appreciated. Jack Sinclair goes back-to-back as St Kilda’s best player. Sinclair was No. 1 pick in 2014 … in the rookie draft. The previous year Saints took another Jack, Sinclair’s high school mate Jack Billings, at No. 3 in the national draft. It’s almost incomprehensible how their recent seasons have contrasted.

Glenn McFarlane: Only two Brisbane players in the top 23 might seem harsh, but it is actually a positive for Chris Fagan rather than a negative. This Lions team is a very good one, but it is now a far more even side than ever before. That’s a strength, not a weakness. Harris Andrews was stiff, but we went with Tom Stewart, James Sicily and Darcy Moore in the key defensive posts. Dusty should get measured against others, not himself, and while he probably won’t get in, Tom Liberatore should.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson: I had Tom Liberatore in my first draft but can you have the three Bulldogs players when they have had such a disappointing year? Likewise Stephen Coniglio was a tough admission after a year in which he was back to his best. Sam Taylor only played 15 games. Nick Larkey deserves a spot along with Charlie Curnow and Taylor Walker for what he has done in a struggling North Melbourne team. Maybe it’s because I saw him dominate in the flesh on Sunday but Dustin Martin has had a great season. Gryan Miers would be a perfect sub to add something to a game. Let’s hope the selectors do the right thing and actually name wingmen.

Will Taylor Walker make the final team? Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

Matt Turner: Larkey’s goal haul in a struggling team means he should make it, I have loved Blakey’s season for Sydney and have Harris Andrews in the 22. Tom Liberatore and Lachie Neale are near misses.

Lauren Wood: Dusty just has to sneak in after a season – while not his stellar best of years gone by – that just has to be recognised. Still can’t believe Tim Taranto wasn’t available for selection but the Daicos brothers were just about the first-picked, along with Bulldogs big man Tim English. Liked Nick Larkey’s second-half enough to slot him into a pocket while the captaincy might have been the biggest dilemma – can Bont and Toby share it?!

Mark Robinson: My team has 16-17 locks. The centre line is everyone’s centre line: Errol Gulden, Zak Butters, Josh Daicos. And Marcus Bontempelli and Christian Petracca fill the other midfield positions. All locks. Sam Taylor misses because 15 games can’t earn him a spot, leaving James Sicily and Darcy Moore as the key defenders, ahead of Harris Andrews, Jacob Weitering, Callum Wilkie and Taylor. There’s 20 players who could fill a bench spot – and unfortunately for Melbourne’s Jack Viney, he missed for Tom Liberatore and then missed the subs spot for the Giants’ Stephen Coniglio.

READ ROBBO’S FULL EXPLANATION HERE.

Callum Dick: Plenty of talk about whether Sam Taylor has played enough games to get an AA nod and it’s a yes for mine. Callum Wilkie the unlucky out in the back six after a stellar season but it otherwise picks itself. The centreline is almost undebatable and the followers much the same. Went with Tim English over Rowan Marshall but the latter needed to be on the bench. Have – controversially (?) – gone with all forwards inside 50. Couldn’t find a spot for Jamie Elliot but he wouldn’t detract from this side at all. Larkey’s performance in a worse side enough to get the start over Tex.

Toby Greene is the All Australian captain in the eyes of many. Picture: Michael Klein.

Lachlan McKirdy: Some very tough calls in this team. If Sam Taylor had played just one more game, he probably would have found a place in my defence, while Tom Green will surely be a future All-Australian after another incredible ball-winning season. Dusty got close to the half-forward line, but too many players are consistently performing above him. Tim English wins the ruck battle, just, over Rowan Marshall. Stephen Coniglio sneaks into the team with a long overdue AA jacket after the best season of his career.

Chris Cavanagh: Shocked that Richmond midfielder Tim Taranto wasn’t in the squad, because he might have won a spot on my bench if he was. I almost found a spot for Tigers teammate Dustin Martin, but just squeezed him out in the end. Western Bulldogs big man Tim English narrowly beat St Kilda’s Rowan Marshall for the ruck spot in my eyes, despite a big finish to the year from Marshall.

Originally published as AFL All Australian 2023: Our experts name their best team for the season