It’s that time of year again: the winter chill has set in, the electrical fires are roaring, and all over the nation, footy fans are getting out their notepad and paper (or laptop computer) and jotting down their mid-season All-Australian teams.

Who’s been the best key defender of the year: Harris Andrews or Alex Pearce? Do you pick two wingmen even if you don’t know who the second-best one is? Can you have Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn in the same team even though we know for a FACT it doesn’t work? All important questions that need answering.

After weeks of painstaking research, giving full consideration to every player who has run onto an AFL field this season (yes, even Tew Jiath), I have arrived at my team: the cream of the cream of the first half of the year.

So without further ado, here is my full All Australian 23 (yes, I’ve even named a sub!) after 14 rounds of the 2024 season, along with a few honourable mentions who just missed the cut.

Disagree with a pick? Feel free to vent your frustration in the comments section – though make sure to abide by the rule that any player you want to put in also needs someone taken out in their place.

Backs: Nick Vlastuin (Richmond), Alex Pearce (Fremantle), Harris Andrews (Brisbane)

Half-backs: Nick Blakey (Sydney), Sam Collins (Gold Coast), Jordan Clark (Fremantle)

This was a tough group to pick, because if anything, 2024 has been the year of the defender. We’ve seen some huge disposal numbers from the game’s best half-backs, the leading interceptors are racking up the marks, and once again scores, for the most part, are lower than we and the AFL would like.

Nevertheless, there are some locks: none bigger than Alex Pearce at full back.

The season’s pre-eminent key defender in my view, Pearce’s return to his best has been crucial in Fremantle becoming the most miserly backline of 2024. The Dockers skipper is seldom beaten one-on-one, has some major scalps to his name – among them Nick Larkey, Max King and Taylor Walker – and sits in the top 10 for intercept marks.

Alongside him are a pair of Queenslanders: Harris Andrews, like Pearce, has had a form resurgence in 2024, with the 2019 and 2020 All-Australian dominant in the air once again. The Brisbane co-captain leads the competition in intercept marks, has lost just eight of 53 one-on-one contests, and to complete the trifecta, only Darcy Moore leads him for spoils – and he’s had an extra game.

Not to be outdone, Sam Collins is seldom ever beaten one-on-one, losing just six of his 45 duels – third-best of the top 20 attendees.

It was a toss-up between the Suns stalwart and Jacob Weitering for this spot in the 23, with the Blue the best one-on-one player in the competition this year – losing just two of 29 contests – but Collins’ 40 intercept marks for the season, third-best in the AFL behind Andrews and Liam Jones, gets him over the line for now.

As rebounders, Nick Blakey and Jordan Clark essentially picked themselves, with only Bailey Dale really in consideration for a half-back spot aside from them.

Blakey is the most aggressive running backman in the game, with his slicing dashes up the centre of the SCG a big factor in Sydney’s incredible start to the season. Equal-seventh for rebound 50s, only three players in the top 15 in that stat have more inside 50s than Blakey… with one of them on the opposite flank in this team.

A proper success story since the moment he walked in the door at Fremantle, Clark has taken his game to a new level in 2024: along with Luke Ryan, the pair have racked up disposals in defence, being trusted as distributors to kick-start scoring chains. Clark is fifth in the league for effective kicks, and of the top 20 in that stat only Dan Houston has had more inside 50s – that’s a fine combination.

The last spot was the hardest of all to pick: it came down to Ryan and Richmond’s Nick Vlastuin for the small defender role that has been Tom Stewart’s for the last half a decade.

Ryan’s stats are simply extraordinary, ranking first in the league for rebound 50s, effective kicks, total kicks and kicking efficiency – he never misses a target. Vlastuin, meanwhile, has been the one true star in a Tigers back six consistently under siege, ranking third for rebound 50s and equal-fifth for intercept marks.

So why Vlastuin over Ryan? Well, with the greatest of respect to the latter, the Docker is a bit of a stat-padder. His team love the ball in his hands, and love a backwards kick in defensive 50 to where he sits, on his own, ready to launch. That inflates his disposal numbers, as well as his kicking efficiency: it’s usually Clark that makes the dangerous, aggressive rebounds.

That, plus 10 fewer intercept marks, is what gets Vlastuin the nod over the reigning All-Australian: but this was a true line-ball call.

Honourable mentions: Luke Ryan (Fremantle), Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs), Jacob Weitering (Carlton), Dayne Zorko (Brisbane), Sam Taylor (GWS)

Centres: Errol Gulden (Sydney), Nick Daicos (Collingwood), Zach Merrett (Essendon)

Followers: Max Gawn (Melbourne, vice-captain), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs, captain), Isaac Heeney (Sydney)

Interchange: Caleb Serong (Fremantle), Patrick Cripps (Carlton), Adam Treloar (Western Bulldogs), Zak Butters (Port Adelaide)

Substitute: Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)

Every year when an All-Australian team is named nowadays (with the exception of 2023), there is a call for the two wings to be manned by… well, wingmen.

Aside from last year, though, when Errol Gulden and Josh Daicos earned their spots with brilliant seasons, there’s usually no one good enough to command those positions. Standing a wing can be a very selfless role, and one that doesn’t lend itself to huge disposals numbers, after all.

So I’ve cheated a bit: on one wing is Gulden, the game’s best wingman by a street who racks up huge amounts of disposals, kicks the ball beautifully and aggressively (he’s second in the AFL for inside 50s and fourth for both score involvements and goal assists); and on the other is Zach Merrett, for the simple reason that of all the midfielders I wanted to pick in this team, he’s the one who plays the most outside role. Ranking seventh in the league for uncontested possessions – of those above him, only Adam Treloar is a fellow on-baller – the Essendon captain is the best handball receive player in the game, using his lethal left foot to set up many a Bombers forward foray.

And let’s be honest: if the top-rated wingman in the competition this year is Massimo D’Ambrosio, who while having a fine season in a developing Hawthorn team is certainly not as impactful on games as the other players in this midfield, then picking him because he’s the best man for the job is a bit disingenuous. This is supposed to be the year’s best team.

The rest of the starting midfield was simple. Max Gawn is facing some stiff recent competition from old teammate Brodie Grundy, but he remains the best ruckman in the game: a dominant force with his tapwork and stoppage follow-up, while also covering the ground more impactfully than any other big man going around.

Then, at his feet, we have the year’s three best players: Brownlow Medal favourite Isaac Heeney dominates every stat you could care to mention and is second for score involvements while kicking 21 goals himself; Nick Daicos has transformed himself from an elite-kicking half-back to the best ball-winner in the game, all while remaining an attacking force, sitting equal third for inside 50s this season and seventh for score involvements; and Marcus Bontempelli is simply ridiculous.

Top of the three for score involvements AND goal assists, while kicking 22 majors himself, and also trailing only Daicos for contested possessions and centre clearances, the Bont is the ultimate footballer, and if he keeps this form up Heeney will have stiff competition for the Brownlow.

Like most years, my bench is full of midfielders: given their influence on the game, how could it not be?

Caleb Serong and Patrick Cripps are stoppage beasts, with Serong equal-first along with Daicos for clearances (and about to go past him given Collingwood have their bye), while the Carlton captain’s sheer presence and game-turning abilities are more invaluable than his still impressive stats – remember THAT last quarter against Port Adelaide?

Adam Treloar is a ball-winning machine this year, rivalling Bontempelli’s numbers for clearances and leading the league in total disposals, while his kicking is nowhere near as bad as it is purported to be.

Last but not least, Zak Butters has been the most consistent of the players I considered for the final spot on the bench – Lachie Neale and Jack Crisp had underwhelming starts to the season, while Matt Rowell has faded out of late. His stiffest competition came from me considering whether to pick Luke Ryan on the bench; ultimately, though, Butters’ contested toughness and ability to stand up in the big moments – his final quarter against Hawthorn to single-handedly win Port Adelaide the game a shining example – are worth their weight in gold.

As for the sub, Hugh McCluggage is having an underrated year as a smooth-moving on-baller, and given how unlucky he has been to miss the cut in recent seasons, his campaign – and specifically his last month or two – deserves rewarding.

Honourable mentions: Brodie Grundy (Sydney), Matt Rowell (Gold Coast), Jack Crisp (Collingwood), Lachie Neale (Brisbane), Rowan Marshall (St Kilda).

Half-forwards: Chad Warner (Sydney), Harry McKay (Carlton), Dylan Moore (Hawthorn)

Forwards: Jake Waterman (West Coast), Charlie Curnow (Carlton), Kyle Langford (Essendon)

You probably noticed a glaring omission in the midfield department in this team: well rest assured, because I’ve cheated with Chad Warner too.

In recent years, at least one spot in the real team – and quite often two – on the half-forward flank goes to players considered as ‘goalkicking midfielders’: it’s where you put the Marcus Bontempellis and Christian Petraccas so you can fit in another on-baller, rather than need to overrate a half-forward’s impact on the team.

The All-Australian team wouldn’t be complete without Warner in it, though: the Sydney star’s speed and aggressive kicking makes him arguably the biggest weapon in a team chock full of them. Amazingly, he sits fifth in the league for score involvements this year, and it will likely be fourth at the end of the bye rounds when every team has played an equal number of games… yet he’s third at the Swans, with Heeney and Gulden just ahead of him. Yikes.

Happily for those fans of proper team structure, there is a half-forward this season well worthy of acknowledging in this team: Dylan Moore.

The AFL’s hardest-working player, Moore’s speed and endurance allows him to have an impact wherever he roams on the field – as a link man between defence and attack pushing up to the wings to mark; as an extra on-baller at stoppages to use his pace to break away from congestion; and as a damaging small forward with beautiful roving skills and exquisite goal nous.

22 goals this year doesn’t quite do justice to the Hawthorn star’s impact on games; he plays the most difficult role on the field to stand out in, and does everything about it superbly.

A poor recent run of form hasn’t pushed Kyle Langford out of his spot as the small (or mid-sized) forward in this team, mostly because there’s no one really challenging for his spot, and I decided it would be silly to pick a fourth key forward or add another midfielder by shifting Bontempelli to the Bomber’s forward pocket.

Still, sitting equal seventh for goals this year, the accurate Langford is a nightmare match-up: brilliant overhead, quick on the lead – he has more marks on the lead than anyone else in the game – and with proper forward craft considering it’s only his second year in that role, he’s a big reason the Bombers sit in the top four with real hopes of breaking their famous finals drought.

As for my three key forwards, Charlie Curnow picks himself as the current Coleman Medal leader: he has been slightly less impactful and more inaccurate this season than in 2022 or 2023, but the Blue is still the most menacing forward in the game, and his regular bursts of two or three goals in a matter of minutes this year have been simply game-changing, in a way his fellow Coleman leader Ben King just hasn’t been.

Had it not been for missing a game with concussion, Jake Waterman could easily have equalled Curnow and King’s 38 goals for the season: in a weaker West Coast team, the Eagles spearhead’s marking inside 50 has been simply incredible this year.

A smaller key forward, you wouldn’t know it from the way he attacks the ball and brings it down: some of his games this year, particularly the Western Derby and an Eagles win over Richmond, he has looked Wayne Carey-like. Already with comfortably more goals than in any full season he has ever played, Waterman is as big a reason for the Eagles beginning to rise as Harley Reid has been.

The last forward spot was another tight contest, with Harry McKay edging out Joe Daniher to make it two Blues spearheads picked.

Playing further up the ground than usual, McKay has excelled as a high-roaming centre-half-forward who pushes back inside 50, almost like a bigger, less nimble Nick Riewoldt. But it’s his accuracy in front of goal that has really dazzled: from just about the worst kick in the game last year, he has 29 goals and just 14 behinds in 2024, including an ice-cool winning goal against Brisbane in Opening Round.

The 2021 Coleman Medallist has had a rough few seasons, but he is having a career-best season, and well and truly deserves his spot.

Honourable mentions: Joe Daniher (Brisbane), Ben King (Gold Coast), Jesse Hogan (GWS), Tyson Stengle (Geelong), Gryan Miers (Geelong).