In a league rife with more talent than ever before, picking the illustrious AFL All-Australian side proves to be a more strenuous task every season.
Players from all 18 sides have made compelling cases for their place in the 2024 team of the year, but there can only be 22.
Picked on Thursday night a week out from the highly anticipated campaign in September, players picked get the chance to bask in the glory of their selection, while those snubbed have no choice but to rest on the laurels and hope to go one better next year.
Six sides were unfortunately not represented at all; Adelaide, Essendon, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda.
Countless players would feel hard done by, in this piece we'll look at the top five, starting with:
Massimo D'Ambrosio
So begins the dreaded wing debate for All-Australian pundits wondering whether selectors should be obliged to pick two genuine wingmen in the team.
Nick Daicos' placement at the position has already sparked controversy, especially given his change of role in season 2024 from an outside ball-user to an inside ball-winner.
Errol Gulden cemented his place early in the year, leaving the other side up for grabs for the few wingers who have shone this season.
D'Ambrosio is clearly the most notable omission after slotting seamlessly into Hawthorn's hard-running system and providing a lethal left leg to add to Sam Mitchell's young weaponry.
Brent Daniels
Only one small forward made the cut in 2024, with Hawthorn's Dylan Moore rightfully earning selection on the forward pocket after another season of toiling away in the most difficult role in footy, producing midfielder type numbers while doing so.
He and Brent Daniels are clearly rank one and two for the league's best high-half forwards in the game, running up the ground to assist defensively before charging back to hit the scoreboard better than anyone else.
Daniels' performance against Fremantle was almost enough to stake his claim, his 29 touches, 13 tackles and three goals capping arguably the best individual game of the season.
But his overall influence is still understated. He may be the most pivotal mid-forward connector in the comp, could easily roll through the midfield for easy possessions but still puts up prolific numbers in the front half.
Being the disciplined team-first player that he is however, one would assume his focus lies squarely on the Giants' push for the 2024 flag, which is well within their capacity this September.
Zach Merrett
Merrett is this year's victim of the league's abundance of superstar midfielders. He may be the best lead-by-example player in the comp without having the Bontempelli brilliance or Heeney x-factor.
His point of difference is doing everything at an elite level; he wins heaps of the ball inside the contest, is clean, effective and smooth outside the contest, is the king of the one-percenters and is an astonishingly strong tackler for his size.
He was also one of the most consistent performers of the season, at times single-handedly trying to drag the Bombers to that September berth they couldn't quite secure.
He should roll to a convincing win in Essendon's best & fairest, which will unfortunately be his only notable accolade in a season that deserves more.
Harris Andrews
The Lions' co-skipper was the most formidable defensive presence in the competition for most of the season, and quite clearly at that.
He took by far the most intercept marks in the competition this season, 13 more than the next best. He took easily the most contested marks of any key defender - 45 to Sam Taylor's 30. And he was also one of the most accountable defenders in comp; entering the second most one one-on-one contests in the league for a loss-rate of just 14%.
His snub in favour of Weitering is one of the most controversial and begs the question of whether the Blues' backman may have been advantaged by his lack of an All-Australian blazer previously.
The two will clash in next Saturday's elimination final, though will have more than All-Australian credentials on their mind in the fight for finals glory.
Harry Sheezel
Sheezel should have been the first player picked on the interchange bench, given his versatility.
He's got a case to be on any positional line, having the licence to stroll wherever he wants in the North Melbourne lineup, hitting the scoreboard when forward, racking up kicks off half-back, or winning contested ball through the midfield.
He's quickly becoming the AFL's most reliable player with the ball in hand, moving like a smaller right-footed Bontempelli or Pendlebury but with his own style.
He clearly has his head switched on, has a high IQ and should have been rewarded for his consistency in 2024, especially through North Melbourne's continued struggle to make the winner's list.
