40 Man All-Australian Squad

[Bang Bang Bang 5,850]

Just goes to show much of a farce this team is and how it's picked on reputation and hype more than anything. I don't know who's on the panel but they clearly weren't watching many Melbourne games.

Max Gawn - Injured for 3 games, well beaten in 2 (Port and West Coast), hurt and ineffective in another (Adelaide). That's over a third of the season he hasn't impacted. Has a high reputation.

Clayton Oliver - some really good games and overall a decent season, but nowhere AA squad worthy. Plenty of games where he couldn't hit a target. Has a high reputation.

Christian Petracca - no surprises there. Well done Trac. 

No May genuinely makes me angry. Not only does he miss playing finals yet again, but he can't get acknowledged for the Goliath year he had.

 

[Wiseblood 24,637]

It's a bit of a shocker to leave May out of the 40.  As Lord Trav said above, I didn't expect him to make it, but he was clearly in the top few for full backs this year.

I reckon Todd Goldstein is equally stiff.  I know Norf stunk it up this year but he was easily one of the best ruckmen across the season.  

 

[Robbie57 2,041]

Baffling, May deserved a spot. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Robbie57

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,346]

6 minutes ago, Demon Jim said:

has anyone got the week-by-week stats on who kicked goals on May?

Tom Lynch and Gunstan kicked 3 goals on him in rounds 5 and 7. The rest of the games were 1 or 0.

Maybe Weitering and Moore didn't have multiple goals kicked on them in any game this year? 

I'm absolutely flabbergasted May didn't get nominated. His games against St Kilda and GWS were near flawless for a defender, and he was dominant in other games too.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Disgusting decision to not include May.

Anyone know how many goals he conceded this year?

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,346]

3 minutes ago, No Plan B said:

Just goes to show much of a farce this team is and how it's picked on reputation and hype more than anything. I don't know who's on the panel but they clearly weren't watching many Melbourne games.

Max Gawn - Injured for 3 games, well beaten in 2 (Port and West Coast), hurt and ineffective in another (Adelaide). That's over a third of the season he hasn't impacted. Has a high reputation.

Clayton Oliver - some really good games and overall a decent season, but nowhere AA squad worthy. Plenty of games where he couldn't hit a target. Has a high reputation.

Christian Petracca - no surprises there. Well done Trac. 

No May genuinely makes me angry. Not only does he miss playing finals yet again, but he can't get acknowledged for the Goliath year he had.

 

Watch Gawn make it despite his worst season in years and Petracca misses the cut.

[Age 485]

AA squad is all about the reputation built up and very rarely about the year you have had, unless it is an absolute blinder of a year. 

May loses out because they essentially look at his reputation built up over a period of time, not just the one year. He had a great year this  year but some of the other FBs have had a decent couple of years. 

It is a ridiculous system but that's the way it seems to work. 

[Sir Why You Little 37,341]

WTF

 

[Bobby McKenzie 2,407]

45 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

May not making the squad is a bit silly. Didn't expect him to make the final 22, but to not make the squad is wrong. I can pick out 5-10 players in that squad he's had a better season than.

I expect Petracca be our only player in the final AA 22. Oliver not good enough. Gawn borderline but missed a few games with injury.

Why isn't Oliver good enough? He is in a class all on his own. Guts, Skills what more does he need? He is a brilliant footballer.

[Tony Tea 2,816]

DisMay at May dis.

[binman 44,683]

34 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Watch Gawn make it despite his worst season in years and Petracca misses the cut.

Gawn clearly the best ruck man this year. Total lock.

Trac also a lock

[titan_uranus 25,209]

Ridiculous and insulting to exclude May from the squad.

Not only was he at the absolute worst on par with Moore and Weitering, he also deserves at least a squad spot over Pendlebury (missed a month), Gawn (missed three games and was nowhere near as good as recent years), Cam Guthrie (serviceable), Maynard (WTF).

Gawn shouldn't be there: love him but not good enough this year. Goldstein probably the season's second best ruck but who cares, Naitanui was so far in front of everyone else.

Oliver's borderline. But if it were a choice between May and Oliver, it should have been May.

Petracca should be a lock for the 22, but May should have been a lock for the squad so who knows.

[Adam The God 30,644]

1 hour ago, deanox said:

I like that Oliver is recognised because I think he really grew this year. He looked to kick more, struggled at first then realised he needed to use his pace to gain space to kick (whereas handballs out of packs happen immediately). He made this change while still being one of the most prolific midfielders and best tacklers in the game.

Also I think he is criminally underrated by the umpires and gets a raw deal, getting in this squad does seem to help that. 

Oliver is an out and out star. Criminally underrated around here. Continually improves his game. A grade without doubt. He is 23 years old. Two years younger than Cripps, yet Cripps is rated by most commentators as a star (and rightly so), but Oliver rarely gets mentioned in the same breath and has just as much influence, if not more, on games. Get around these league wide numbers...

1st for pressure acts.

1st for contested possessions (Petracca finished 2nd, 11 behind Clarry).

1st for stoppage clearances.

1st for total clearances (9 ahead of Cripps).

3rd for ground ball gets (Petracca finished 2nd, 1 ahead of Clarry).

3rd for tackles.

4th for centre clearances. 

5th for disposals.

5th for handballs.

7th for effective disposals.

[Deemented Are Go! 3,704]

A reminder that Cameron Ling and Luke Darcy are on the selection panel FFS. 
The AFLPA and coaches awards are the only ones with integrity IMO. 

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,958]

1 minute ago, Deemented Are Go! said:

Cameron Ling and Luke Darcy are on the selection panel FFS. 

All angst addressed in 10 words.

[binman 44,683]

14 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Ridiculous and insulting to exclude May from the squad.

Not only was he at the absolute worst on par with Moore and Weitering, he also deserves at least a squad spot over Pendlebury (missed a month), Gawn (missed three games and was nowhere near as good as recent years), Cam Guthrie (serviceable), Maynard (WTF).

Gawn shouldn't be there: love him but not good enough this year. Goldstein probably the season's second best ruck but who cares, Naitanui was so far in front of everyone else.

Oliver's borderline. But if it were a choice between May and Oliver, it should have been May.

Petracca should be a lock for the 22, but May should have been a lock for the squad so who knows.

Max was and is a far better than Natanui, a hugely over rated player. 

[Adam The God 30,644]

8 minutes ago, binman said:

Max was and is a far better than Natanui, a hugely over rated player. 

Jeepers. Max is becoming overrated for mine.

Max broke even with two rookies this year, missed a few games and his influence had no influence on many results.

I'm sure internally Max would be demanding much higher standards of himself and should be. Was an ordinary year.

[Swooper1987 3,322]

May - proves you don't have to be dead to be stiff.

I find the comments on Gawn's season interesting. Mid season he was the universal pick for AA ruck.  He missed three games, scored coaches votes in the game against the Swans, one of only 2 Demons to poll, and wasn't beaten by any opponent in the run home.  Was regarded by most of the media as best on in the last game.  Goldstein faded badly as did Witts, and Grundy barely got going. Naitanui is great in Perth but has done little elsewhere.  11 marks for the season is a damning stat for a ruckman.  I think Gawn is terribly underrated here and if he makes it, it will be well deserved.  It wasn't as good a season as 2016 and 18 for him, but not terribly dissimilar to 2019. If he isn't in the best 22 players in the comp the I haven't been watching the game for the last 40 odd years.

Tracc - rightfully a lock.

Oliver - a good comeback after the Richmond disaster.  Well done to him. 

[Demon trucker 1,800]

1 hour ago, Lord Travis said:

May not making the squad is a bit silly. Didn't expect him to make the final 22, but to not make the squad is wrong. I can pick out 5-10 players in that squad he's had a better season than.

I expect Petracca be our only player in the final AA 22. Oliver not good enough. Gawn borderline but missed a few games with injury.

He is the number 1 inside mid the best contested midfielder, good enough, if he played for Collingwood he would be talked about as the best of all time.

[Adam The God 30,644]

11 minutes ago, Swooper1987 said:

May - proves you don't have to be dead to be stiff.

I find the comments on Gawn's season interesting. Mid season he was the universal pick for AA ruck.  He missed three games, scored coaches votes in the game against the Swans, one of only 2 Demons to poll, and wasn't beaten by any opponent in the run home.  Was regarded by most of the media as best on in the last game.  Goldstein faded badly as did Witts, and Grundy barely got going. Naitanui is great in Perth but has done little elsewhere.  11 marks for the season is a damning stat for a ruckman.  I think Gawn is terribly underrated here and if he makes it, it will be well deserved.  It wasn't as good a season as 2016 and 18 for him, but not terribly dissimilar to 2019. If he isn't in the best 22 players in the comp the I haven't been watching the game for the last 40 odd years.

Tracc - rightfully a lock.

Oliver - a good comeback after the Richmond disaster.  Well done to him. 

You say that, but Grundy had more hit outs to advantage than Gawn. Despite playing more games than Gawn, Grundy also had 97 more hit outs.

So Grundy barely getting going was still statistically better than Gawn.

[Older demon 2,799]

Just look at the entire selection panel, Gillon McLachlan (chairman), Kevin Bartlett, Luke Darcy, Steve Hocking, Glen Jakovich, Chris Johnson, Cameron Ling, Matthew Richardson and Warren Tredrea.

What credentials do this lot have? Commentators, state reps (Jakovich always ensures his W.A. boys get a guernsey. In my opinion the only one with any credibility is Steve Hocking.

Steven May had an outstanding year Weitering a very good year and Luke Ryan a good year, Moore is flashy but leaks goals. Equally as bad was Goldstein missing he played every game and had a great year while Naitanui has a great highlights reel. 

[Grimes Times 1,278]

4 minutes ago, A F said:

Jeepers. Max is becoming overrated for mine.

Max broke even with two rookies this year, missed a few games and his influence had no influence on many results.

I'm sure internally Max would be demanding much higher standards of himself and should be. Was an ordinary year.

If you line Max and NicNat up Max has him covered in most stats

                         Max  -  NN

Disposals      15.9 -   11

Hitouts           32.7  -  29.4

Clearance        3.4 - 5.6

Hitouts to Ad    10.8 - 8.6

Marks                  4.5 - 0.7

Contested Marks    1.9 - 0.4

Intercept Marks    1.9 - 0.2

Score Involv       3.8 - 3.4

Spoils               3.7 -  2.3

 

The only thing NN has over Max is clearances and Gerard Healy

[Moonshadow 17,678]

33 minutes ago, binman said:

Gawn clearly the best ruck man this year. Total lock.

Trac also a lock

Normally a fan of your posts, Trashy. But disagree that Max was the best ruck. Both Goldy and NicNat wouldve been my selection

[Adam The God 30,644]

8 minutes ago, Grimes Times said:

If you line Max and NicNat up Max has him covered in most stats

                         Max  -  NN

Disposals      15.9 -   11

Hitouts           32.7  -  29.4

Clearance        3.4 - 5.6

Hitouts to Ad    10.8 - 8.6

Marks                  4.5 - 0.7

Contested Marks    1.9 - 0.4

Intercept Marks    1.9 - 0.2

Score Involv       3.8 - 3.4

Spoils               3.7 -  2.3

 

The only thing NN has over Max is clearances and Gerard Healy

Nik Nat is neither here nor there IMO. I'm talking about Gawn. There's no way he was in the top 2 ruckmen this year and if so, the position (as I have said many times) is a joke.

[Moonshadow 17,678]

2 minutes ago, Grimes Times said:

If you line Max and NicNat up Max has him covered in most stats

                         Max  -  NN

Disposals      15.9 -   11

Hitouts           32.7  -  29.4

Clearance        3.4 - 5.6

Hitouts to Ad    10.8 - 8.6

Marks                  4.5 - 0.7

Contested Marks    1.9 - 0.4

Intercept Marks    1.9 - 0.2

Score Involv       3.8 - 3.4

Spoils               3.7 -  2.3

 

The only thing NN has over Max is clearances and Gerard Healy

Goals?