All-Australian squad named

[chalbilto]

I think that Rowbottom will finish in the top 5 in the b&f. He has had a stella year.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I think Parker has lost his grip on second place. He'll probably be top five still, but his form took a big dip after the Freo game - where he was magnificent. Sunday was a little better than the previous month but not back to the level he played at during the middle third of the season. I now have Blakey in clear second, with daylight above and below him.

Chad's finish will be damaged by the games he missed. It's quite hard to finish high up in the B&F count if you miss more than a game or two. This year so many of our players have had interruptions to their season that it might be possible finish top ten if you've missed a month, but I suspect top five will still be a reach.

My two smokies for top five finishes are Cunningham, who plays a role that doesn't get much attention but which I reckon will get internal recognition for how consistent he's been, and McLean, who likewise has been a pillar of understated consistency.

All fair enough. I’m a Harry fan but I reckon he started slowly when he was being played out of position. My love of Hayden is well documented so I hope and expect him to poll well.

The other one I think will be battling for a top five spot is Ollie. He’s had some first class games, and bar one or two defensive lapses (think Toby Greene in the GWS squeaker), been very good.

[Blood Fever]

Florent has been great but has been a bit flat lately. Break should do him good and we need him back to his best v Carlton.

[giant]

Brilliant for Erol and Lizard - delighted for them both. Apparently Erol a lock for AA - when was the last time (ever?) a Swan his age made AA?

[goswannies]

Brilliant for Erol and Lizard - delighted for them both. Apparently Erol a lock for AA - when was the last time (ever?) a Swan his age made AA?

Closest might have been 22yo Hannebery in 2013?

[neilfws]

Closest might have been 22yo Hannebery in 2013?

That would be my guess. All the data is out there, just not connected (AA team lists and player ages) - sounds like a project for me soon.

Speaking of data, the ABC footy data team have published their AA thoughts, they have Gulden and Blakey in the 22.

The AFL's All-Australian Team will be announced tonight. Who should make the cut?

[MattW]

Yes - Errol!! What a sensational achievement. Of course, entirely deserved!!

[longmile]

Errol makes the cut, no Blakey but Dawson makes the bench.

And thank god sense prevails and there’s no Dustin Martin.

[dejavoodoo44]

Well done to Errol. I think it will be the first of many.

Also, I was mildly amused by the survey currently on the AFL site. Underneath a picture of Liberatore, it had something like, "Who was the unluckiest player to miss the AA side? Vote now"

Which I can't help thinking might be skewing the survey, and that prompts like that really should be avoided if you want accurate results. Anyway, I decided to vote for the Blakey, but unfortunately, was only able to vote for "other", because he wasn't listed separately.

Unsurprisingly, of the named players, Liberatore was leading with 23% of the vote, but "other" had a quite healthy 14%.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Good on Errol. What a remarkable season he’s had. Didn’t quite appreciate till I read a piece tonight: he led the entire comp for metres gained. So I went and looked it up - he did it by a country mile.

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_rankings?year=2023&rt=LT&st=MG

[neilfws]

That would be my guess. All the data is out there, just not connected (AA team lists and player ages) - sounds like a project for me soon.

OK, I spent my evening crunching All Australian stats. The 2023 numbers added in manually, hopefully no errors crept in.

Hannebery as the previous youngest AA Swan was a good guess - but the winner is Micky O, who was still 20 in 1997. Errol second, Hannebery third. Here's the Swans top 10 sorted by youngest age that a player made the AA squad.

season	name	dob	height	weight	age_year_end	age_years
1997	Michael O'Loughlin	1977-02-20	189	90	7609	20.847
2023	Errol Gulden	2002-07-18	176	78	7836	21.468
2013	Daniel Hannebery	1991-02-24	181	81	8336	22.838
2003	Adam Goodes	1980-01-08	191	100	8748	23.967
2016	Luke Parker	1992-10-25	183	88	8823	24.173
2012	Josh P. Kennedy	1988-06-20	188	96	8950	24.521
2021	Tom Papley	1996-07-13	177	80	9292	25.458
2022	Callum Mills	1997-04-02	187	87	9394	25.737
2006	Ryan O'Keefe	1981-01-24	187	88	9462	25.923
1991	Barry Mitchell	1965-12-07	173	70	9510	26.055

Looking at all players, not just Swans: Errol and Micky O make the top 20 youngest, Hannebery is not in the top 50. Ben Hart just 18 when he was AA, and if we included all AA selections he'd be at number 2 as he was AA again the next season aged 19. This year the youngest is Nick Daicos, a few months younger than Errol.

season	name	dob	height	weight	age_year_end	age_years
1992	Ben Hart	1974-07-09	190	83	6740	18.466
1992	Gavin Wanganeen	1973-06-16	181	83	7128	19.529
1994	Mark Ricciuto	1975-06-08	184	92	7136	19.551
2013	Chad Wingard	1993-07-29	183	82	7450	20.411
1998	Ben Cousins	1978-06-30	179	78	7479	20.49
1998	Matthew Lloyd	1978-04-16	192	93	7554	20.696
2013	Jeremy Cameron	1993-04-01	196	94	7569	20.737
1997	Michael O'Loughlin	1977-02-20	189	90	7609	20.847
1995	David Neitz	1975-01-22	191	100	7638	20.926
2002	Matthew Pavlich	1981-12-31	192	99	7660	20.986
2023	Nick Daicos	2003-01-03	184	73	7667	21.005
2016	Marcus Bontempelli	1995-11-24	193	93	7698	21.09
1997	Austinn Jones	1976-09-28	176	82	7754	21.244
2004	Chris Judd	1983-09-08	189	88	7775	21.301
2000	Lance Whitnall	1979-08-23	192	100	7791	21.345
1992	Robert Harvey	1971-08-21	181	86	7793	21.351
2018	Clayton Oliver	1997-07-22	189	87	7822	21.43
2023	Errol Gulden	2002-07-18	176	78	7836	21.468
1996	Michael Voss	1975-07-07	183	88	7838	21.474
2021	Sam Walsh	2000-07-02	184	84	7842	21.485

[dejavoodoo44]

Quite the turnaround from Mickey O. From crying himself to sleep over moving to Sydney, to All-Australian at twenty.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Great minds

[neilfws]

Quite the turnaround from Mickey O. From crying himself to sleep over moving to Sydney, to All-Australian at twenty.

Indeed! Fun fact: Paul Roos was the oldest AA selection that same season (1997) at 34.

[crackedactor 01]

Quite the turnaround from Mickey O. From crying himself to sleep over moving to Sydney, to All-Australian at twenty.

Still amazed at his level of ability for someone with tendinitis who did not train. Only did bike riding for fitness.