All Australian team minus swan

[Hazcam]

Any team which has Brad Johnson in the forward pocket, after the season the Dogs had, and ahead of the likes of Buddy Franklin can't be taken seriously IMO.

it's about balance though
for a small fwd he's been quite prolific

buddy is a bit of an enigma
might have given him a spot on the bench

[Hazcam]

My guess is that they got to about 6 Geelong players and then decided they had to go the whole hog and fit them all in. Bit of a cop out in my opinion. Great team though they've been, it's a lot easier to play well when everyone else is playing well around you.

I'd have had either Franklin or Riewoldt on the bench (at a minimum) ahead of either Ling or Corey. In fact, I think I've had had one on the field and relegated one of the Johnsons to the bench (at best).

Lade vs McIntosh was probably a toss of the coin - but based on the principle that seems to have been applied in the past of waiting for a player to string together at least a couple of good seasons, it is understandable why they plumped for Lade in a line-ball decision.

Milburn's selection is deserved reward for several very consistent seasons. Even last year when Geelong were ordinary, he was a very good player.

We're all biased on here - not point denying it - but Egan's selection ahead of Bolts does rankle a little. Sure, he's been very good on the power forwards but he's also been surrounded by two other players deemed good enough to be AA and another, in Harley, that might have been nominated had he not been injured for part of the season.

Bolton's been almost as effective on those same power forwards and led a defence that conceded the second fewest points in the league. His rebound figures are far superior to Egan's and he hasn't had the luxury of even his normal defensive unit around him (LRT, Crouch, Kennelly) nor a dominant midfield ahead of him.

yep agreed

malceski will be in next yr on the form hes shown this yr
bolts was unlucky
he's performed admirably

[Claret]

Finally, I know Adam Goodes had a slow first half of the season, but surely he should have been among at least the last 40 players nominated.

The selectors get together after about ten rounds to talk about players who should be in the mix. It's not the 40 players who finished the season off best but those that had, consistently, the best seasons.

It's fair to say that Goodes would have been a long way off the mark.

[i'm-uninformed2]

@@@@ing Mcburney!!!!

Brilliant!

[CureTheSane]

Bfd

[TheGrimReaper]

it's about balance though
for a small fwd he's been quite prolific

buddy is a bit of an enigma
might have given him a spot on the bench

He's not bad for an enigma kicking 65 plus goals. According to you, if he was more consistant to be in the All-Australian side, he would have to kick over 100 goals just to get in. He was way better than Cameron Mooney.

The side is a joke!!!

[hammo]

Brad Johnson had another great year and a small forward in the pocket makes more sense than another big one.

That's never been a consideration before.

Buddy and Reiwoldt had brillliant years and at least one of them should have got a start instead of the Geelong love-in they served up.

Makes me hope they get beaten even more this week.

[573v30]

It'll be very hard to keep the lid on now.

[annew]

Here I was thinking that I was the only person who didn't think Brad Johnson had a bad year.

Especially with Franklin & Reiwoldt missing out.

I also think Fletcher was a cheap "thanks for the career" king of selection which unfortunately cost Bolton his spot.

DST

Couldn't agree more. Brisbane in its Premiership days were better than Geelong currently is and yet they rave about Geelong and include 9 of their team. Interesting observation when you look at Malceski's stats they compare favourably to McLeod's. Bolton definitely should have been included and I would have Buddy before Johnson, on Johnson's performance this year. I reckon they selected the team at the half way mark so anyone that was crap at the start of the year missed out.

[hammo]

That's hardly Geelong's fault and seems a strange reason to want them to lose (or even worse, to want Collingwood or Port to win!).

I've never liked Geelong except for God, I always enjoy seeing a favourite be cut down to size, I despise the fact the Melbourne media and public have already annointed this Geelong side as the team of the century despite last year demanding Bomber Thompson's head on a platter, and the fact that this would be one of the greatest sporting chokes of all time makes it irresistable to go for the underdog - even if that means supporting Collingwood!

[annew]

We're all biased on here - not point denying it - but Egan's selection ahead of Bolts does rankle a little. Sure, he's been very good on the power forwards but he's also been surrounded by two other players deemed good enough to be AA and another, in Harley, that might have been nominated had he not been injured for part of the season.

Bolton's been almost as effective on those same power forwards and led a defence that conceded the second fewest points in the league. His rebound figures are far superior to Egan's and he hasn't had the luxury of even his normal defensive unit around him (LRT, Crouch, Kennelly) nor a dominant midfield ahead of him.

Agree with this too.

[hammo]

Talk about 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' though. After more than 40 years, they might win another premiership and you hope they choke. What did you think of people who said similar things about Sydney?

No one deserves a premiership because they've waited a long time.