All-Australian spots were slightly harder to come by in season 2023.
The move to an extra midfield spot in lieu of a Utility meant one less bench spot was on offer.
But even with one fewer spot, we had comprehensive coverage in this outfit – every team had a representative.
Last season we had 9 first time nominees. This year we have 8. Two of last year’s first timers have repeated this year (Dawson, Sinclair).
Speaking of repeats, we have 12 players from last year’s team who have doubled up again.
As always, a games played cut-off applied. For season 2023, that rule resulted in one major casualty – Puttanesca Chiefs stalwart Clayton Oliver. His 118.7 average was enough to make him Midfielder 1, but he only managed to take the field 10 times before a hamstring injury derailed his season.
Let’s go through the team line by line, starting with Defenders.
Roughneck Jordan Dawson was the clear standout defender in season 2023, averaging 7 points a game more than his next nearest competitor, Nick Daicos.
| Pos | Player | Average | Games | Team | AA # |
| DEF1 | Jordan Dawson | 115.85 | 20 | Roughecks | 2nd |
| DEF2 | Nick Daicos | 108.75 | 20 | Love Sparkles | 1st |
| DEF3 | James Sicily | 107.56 | 16 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 2nd |
| DEF4 | Sam Docherty | 106.5 | 18 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 6th |
| DEF5 | Luke Ryan | 100.05 | 20 | Lethal Vipers | 1st |
| DEF6 | Jack Sinclair | 99.55 | 20 | Defenestrators | 2nd |
It’s worth noting though that nearest competitor was in just his second season. Yeeesh. More AA nominations in store for the younger Daicos, one suspects.
Another first time AA member is long time Viper Luke Ryan, who started the season scorching hot, and was a top 3 defender for the first half of the season. He tailed off a little, but still finished with a 100+ average.
James Sicily and Jack Sinclair both earned their second nominations, while Sam Docherty earned his sixth – quite something for someone who has had two knee reconstructions.
Looking towards season 2024, it will be interesting to see who retains defender status. James Sicily and Luke Ryan are locks, but the other four are questionable.
Rory Laird continues his incredible streak – he is the only player in the league’s history to be named All-Australian after each and every season so far. Zach Merrett isn’t far behind, notching up his 7th jersey.
Aside from those two, it’s largely fresh faces for this midfield brigade.
| Pos | Player | Average | Games | Team | AA # |
| MID1 | Marcus Bontempelli | 116.15 | 20 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 2nd |
| MID2 | Zach Merrett | 113.32 | 19 | MaherShalalHashBaz | 7th |
| MID3 | Caleb Serong | 109.79 | 19 | Threat Level Midnight | 1st |
| MID4 | Tom Green | 109.69 | 16 | MaherShalalHashBaz | 1st |
| MID5 | Andrew Brayshaw | 109.1 | 20 | Lethal Vipers | 3rd |
| MID6 | Christian Petracca | 108.4 | 20 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 3rd |
| MID7 | Rory Laird | 107.84 | 19 | Roughecks | 8th |
| MID8 | Darcy Parish | 107.71 | 14 | Te Puke Pukekos | 1st |
| MID9 | Tom Liberatore | 106.37 | 19 | Lethal Vipers | 1st |
Two of the new faces are young guns Caleb Serong and Tom Green, while there was just reward for Tom Liberatore, who has repeatedly found himself left off of keeper lists in previous seasons.
Thank god I will never have to see Jack Ziebell here ever again.
Petty personal feelings aside, I feel like if we had taken a pre-season poll on the AA forwards, the consensus picks wouldn’t have looked too terribly different from this list.
Rozee and Gulden scored their first nominations. Many of this season’s first timers have the feel on mainstays over the coming years.
| Pos | Player | Average | Games | Team | AA # |
| FWD1 | Tim Taranto | 116.3 | 20 | Roughnecks | 3rd |
| FWD2 | Errol Gulden | 112.55 | 20 | Threat Level Midnight | 1st |
| FWD3 | Josh Dunkley | 108.39 | 18 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 4th |
| FWD4 | Connor Rozee | 104.8 | 20 | Taxmanian Devils | 1st |
| FWD5 | Stephen Coniglio | 103.15 | 20 | Defenestrators | 4th |
| FWD6 | Jack Ziebell | 99.31 | 16 | Defenestrators | 2nd |
Tim English had a spectacular season on his way to zero wins.
Zak Butters joined his team mate (at both the Devils and the Power) in Rozee, winning his first AA jersey.
And the trio of Stewart, Crouch (the Brad variety) and Marshall earned their 3rd AA gongs.
| Pos | Player | Average | Games | Team | AA # |
| RUC1 | Tim English | 119.5 | 20 | Te Puke Pukekos | 1st |
| B DEF | Tom Stewart | 99 | 18 | Love Sparkles | 3rd |
| B MID | Brad Crouch | 105.8 | 20 | Solomon’s Soldiers | 3rd |
| B RUC | Rowan Marshall | 113 | 20 | Puttanesca Chiefs | 3rd |
| B FWD | Zak Butters | 97.5 | 20 | Taxmanian Devils | 1st |
Club-by-club breakdown
| Team | Number | Players |
| Defenestrators | 3 | Sinclair, Coniglio, Ziebell |
| Lethal Vipers | 3 | Ryan, Brayshaw, Liberatore |
| Love Sparkles | 2 | Daicos, Stewart |
| MaherShalalHashBaz | 2 | Merrett, Green |
| Puttanesca Chiefs | 1 | Marshall |
| Roughnecks | 3 | Dawson, Laird, Taranto |
| Solomon’s Soldiers | 6 | Sicily, Docherty, Bontempelli, Petracca, Dunkley, B. Crouch |
| Taxmanian Devils | 2 | Rozee, Butters |
| Te Puke Pukekos | 2 | Parish, English |
| Threat Level Midnight | 2 | Serong, Gulden |
