The All-Australian team is an

all-star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

ers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, traditionally led by that season's premiership coach. Despite the name's implication, the All-Australian team is usually ceremonial in modern times. Though the AFL played an All-Star match in 2020, it was the first in 12 years, and the difference in skill level between the All-Australian team and the nearest international competitor is currently too large for any contest to be competitive. Despite this, some of these players have represented Australia in

AFL Academy Australia has named a senior Australian rules football team, known as the All-Australian team since 1947. This team, however has never officially played an international Australian rules football match. This is primarily because the sport is pl ...

junior teams up to the age of 18, as more than two-thirds of all AFL Academy representatives have gone on to play at senior AFL level. From 1998 to 2004, the Australian international rules team was mainly composed of All-Australians, and from 2005 to 2013 the team for the annual

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...

was selected according to the quite different requirements of

International rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

. This change was reverted ahead of the 2014 series, with any player who had been selected at least once in ''any'' All-Australian team being eligible for selection.

History

The earliest concept considered to be a precursor to the All-Australian team was an annual team selected by ''Sporting Life'' magazine between 1947 and 1955. A panel of sportswriters at the magazine selected a full team of eighteen from all ANFC-affiliated competitions. For a time, AFL historians considered these teams to be official All-Australian teams, but no longer recognises them as such. The first official All-Australian team was selected in 1953, immediately after the Australian Football Carnival, which was held in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

on that occasion. Based solely upon performances at the carnival, the All-Australian team was selected by representatives of the various state teams. This tradition continued at all subsequent interstate carnivals until 1988. In 1991, following the VFL's conversion to a national competition and its renaming as the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL), an annual All-Australian team based on performances during the AFL premiership season was introduced. Since 1999, the All-Australian coach is the coach of the premiership-winning side that year. Prior to 2007, only the final selections in the All-Australian team were announced. Since 2007, the All-Australian selection committee has nominated the 40 leading players of the year in their playing positions at the conclusion of the home and away season, before announcing the final 22 at a later date during the All-Australian Presentation Dinner. The squad was increased to 44 in 2022. The 2023 All-Australian selection panel consists of chairperson

Gillon McLachlan Gillon McLachlan (born 1973) is a former Australian sports administrator and now CEO of a major gambling company. He is the former chief executive officer of the Australian Football League (AFL). He was appointed to the role in 2014, succeeding ...

, Kevin Bartlett,

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton Football Club, Carlton and Adelaide Football Club, Adelaide in the Australian Football League between 2005 and 2021. ...

Jude Bolton Jude Bolton (born 15 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1999 and 2013. Early life Growing up, he supported the St Kilda Footbal ...

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

Kane Cornes Kane Graham Cornes (born 5 January 1983) is a sports journalist, commentator and former Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). Known primarily as a tagger, Cornes is a four-time John C ...

Andrew Dillon Sir Andrew Dillon, (born 9 May 1954) is a British executive, who was chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) from 1999 to 2020. His earlier career was spent as an administrator and manager in the Nationa ...

Glen Jakovich Glen Darren Jakovich (born 24 March 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Jakovich was recruited from South Fremantle in the West Australian Football Leagu ...

Laura Kane Laura Kane (born ) is an Australian sports administrator currently serving as the executive general manager of football at the Australian Football League (AFL). Kane was appointed to the position in August 2023, having acted in the role since M ...

Cameron Ling Cameron Ling (born 27 February 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer and three-time premiership player who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A tagger at and , Ling was also a premiership-win ...

, and

Matthew Pavlich Matthew Lee Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the p ...

. In addition to the senior All-Australian team, each year an All-Australian is announced based on the

AFL National Under 18 Championships The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...

and the

AFL National Under 16 Championships In Australia, Australian rules football is the most popular spectator sport and the second most participated code of football. Since originating in Victoria in 1858 and spreading elsewhere from 1866, it has been played continuously in every A ...

. The following lists are for senior teams only. Members of the All-Australian team are awarded a team

blazer A blazer is a jacket worn as part of a smart casual or business casual look. Similar to a sport jacket, a blazer is not part of a formal suit, and the terms "sport coat" and "blazer" may be used interchangeably in daily life. A nautical bl ...

, reminiscent of the formal wear traditionally worn by travelling members of national sports teams. Blazers have become synonymous with the identity of the honour.

Teams

AFL era: 1991–present

2024

2023

Notes: * Despite winning the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

for the second time,

Lachie Neale Lachlan Oliver Neale (born 24 May 1993) is an Australian rules footballer and the co-captain of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club from 2012 to 2018 before being tra ...

was not selected in the team.

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Notes: * Despite winning the

Matt Priddis Matthew Harley Priddis (born 21 March 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to being drafted, Priddis won two premierships with the Subiac ...

was not selected in the team, but was selected in the initial squad of 40 like Sam Mitchell and

Jack Riewoldt Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallis ...

were two years earlier.

2013

2012

Notes: * Despite being awarded the

retrospectively alongside

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is an All-Australian, a three-time Jack Dyer Medal, Richmond be ...

over four years later in November 2016, Sam Mitchell was not selected in the team. However, he was selected in the initial squad of 40. Cotchin was named in the team alongside

Jobe Watson Jobe Watson (born 8 February 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion Tim Watson, w ...

, who received the most Brownlow votes and was initially awarded the medal before being stripped of it due to the Essendon supplements saga. * Despite winning the

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring, goals in the Australian Football League#Premiership season, home- ...

was also not selected in the team. He, too, was selected in the initial squad of 40.

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Notes: * For the first occasion, a preliminary squad of 40 was announced. * With nine players selected, set a record for most players from one club in an All-Australian team, a record which stands to this day.

2006

2005

Notes: * Despite winning the

Fraser Gehrig Fraser Gehrig (born 3 March 1976) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) . Gehrig was a versatile player during his AFL career, begi ...

was not selected in the team.

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

Notes: * Despite winning the

and club best and fairest in a grand final year,

Shane Woewodin Shane Woewodin (born 12 July 1976) is a retired Australian rules football player who played 200 games with the Melbourne and Collingwood Football Clubs. He was the recipient of the Brownlow Medal in 2000. Early career Born to Ukrainian paren ...

was not selected in the team. Notably three

midfielders were selected despite that club missing the finals with a 9–13 win–loss record.

1999

Notes: * Despite winning the

, Scott Cummings was not selected in the team.

1998

Notes: * 1998 was the final season in which the coach of the All-Australian team was not necessarily the premiership coach.

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

Notes: * Despite winning that season's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

, Hawthorn did not supply one player in the team of the year.

VFL/AFL Team of the Year: 1982–1990

The AFL website recognises players who were named in the VFL/AFL Team of the Year from 1982 to 1990 as having All-Australian status. This was a team picked by Victorian selectors. Teams were named every season from 1982 to 1990, except 1985.

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986

1984

1983

1982

Australian Football Carnival era: 1953–1988

;State of origin era

1988

1987

1986

1985

1983

1980

1979

;Pre-State of Origin era

1972

1969

1966

1961

1958

1956

1953

''Sporting Life'' Team of the Year: 1947–1955

These teams were once considered to be equivalent to All-Australian selection, but are no longer recognised as such.

1955

1954

1953

1952

1951

1950

1949

1948

1947

Records

Players

Most times selected overall

Most times selected in Carnivals era

Most captaincies

Coaches

Most times selected overall

Selected as both player and coach

References

External links

All-Australian Team on official AFL website
* ''Sporting Life'' teams 1947–1955: * All-Australian teams 1953–1988: * All-Australian teams 1991–2004
Official AFL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Australian Australian Football League awards Australian rules football awards Australian rules football representative teams

History

Teams

AFL era: 1991–present

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

VFL/AFL Team of the Year: 1982–1990

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986

1984

1983

1982

Australian Football Carnival era: 1953–1988

1988

1987

1986

1985

1983

1980

1979

1972

1969

1966

1961

1958

1956

1953

''Sporting Life'' Team of the Year: 1947–1955

1955

1954

1953

1952

1951

1950

1949

1948

1947

Records

Players

Most times selected overall

Most times selected in Carnivals era

Most captaincies

Coaches

Most times selected overall

Selected as both player and coach

See also