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Vics vs ‘The Rest’: What a split All-Australian matchup would look like

How would the best of the Vic-based sides fare against an opposition of interstate stars?

Published by

Frank Seal

We've compiled the lists for a hypothetical 2023 AFL match between Victoria and 'The Rest' of Australia to see how the best of each looks on paper.

Some of the many snubs of this year's All-Australian team finally receive their plaudits with selection in this experiment, while some members make this team in an adjusted role to fit in the fringe players.

This piece will compare the positional groups of each side, making judgements on superiority where possible, but leaving the end result up for debate.

Here are what the two sides could look like...

Defenders

We get a riveting key defensive battle with Jacob Weitering & Darcy Moore at one end and Harris Andrews & Sam Taylor at the other.

Taylor, falling about a game short of eligibility for the All-Australian side this year, makes our interstate team and forms one half of perhaps the most dominant key-intercepting duo possible in today's game.

Both are roughly 200cm, near-100kg bodies who read the play like no other and are far more likely to win the ball back than be beaten one-on-one.

This duo gets the edge over Weitering and Moore who, while dominant in their own right, suffered some inconsistency in 2023 due to poor team performance or opposition exploitation tactics.

The surrounding interceptors are Callum Wilkie and James Sicily for Vic, while Luke Ryan and Nick Blakey help the interstaters.

Wilkie and Ryan both hold the fort with strength in marking contests while Sicily and Blakey provide two different offensive weapons; Blakey's charging run and Sicily's lethal leg.

The edge here goes to Victoria, given the superior combined intercepting ability and simultaneous offensive power provided with Sicily's kicking.

Finally, Nick Daicos and Jack Sinclair form an elite half-back running duo for Vic against Dan Houston and Jordan Dawson.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Nick Daicos of the Magpies celebrates a goal with teammates Beau McCreery and Jack Crisp of the Magpies during the 2023 AFL Grand Final match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 30, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Sinclair and Daicos provide a similar game as perhaps the two best roaming half-back flankers in the AFL, cutting through opposition with elite ball use and decision-making.

On the other side, Dan Houston can be simply described as a lesser version of James Sicily with a booming kick himself, while Jordan Dawson provides his own elite ball use on the left peg as well as a quality leadership presence.

Overall, Victoria's defensive dominance coupled with the ability to generate offence through Daicos, Sinclair and Sicily probably gives them the nod in the backline.

Midfielders

Starting with the rucks, it's hard to top Tim English's 2023 campaign at the Dogs, despite the dynamic versatility of Luke Jackson on the other side.

The onball comparison is impossible to judge. Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore and Zach Merrett against Tom Green, Zak Butters and Lachie Neale.

Liberatore and Green are the in & under grunt machines with two of the best pairs of hands in the competition and a fair amount of outside class.

Merrett's smarts and defensive accountability is matched by Butters' toughness and skill in any conditions.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 24: Tom Liberatore of the Bulldogs celebrates a goal during the 2022 AFL Round 02 match between the Western Bulldogs and the Carlton Blues at Marvel Stadium on March 24, 2022 In Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Bontempelli and Neale provide the champion presence. Both have just about every midfield trait covered to an elite degree, with Bontempelli's speed and Neale's kicking probably being the minor exceptions.

Josh Daicos and Nic Martin match up against Josh Kelly and Errol Gulden on the wings. All four bring more elite ball-use and a goal-kicking knack. The outside edge goes to Gulden and Kelly through sheer volume of numbers and status within their own clubs.

Forwards

Much like the defenders, the forward battle starts with the two big guns. In this case, it's Charlie Curnow and Nick Larkey competing against Oscar Allen and Taylor Walker.

Curnow and Walker are clearly the top dogs, providing a three-goal-a-game presence, elite goal-kicking accuracy, damaging field kicking and strong contested marking.

Larkey and Allen were both All-Australian contenders playing in the two worst teams in the competition, making for an exciting thought experiment as both feature here on stacked sides.

Suddenly, neither need to worry about being clamped by an entire defensive unit which knows where the ball is going with every inside 50.

If goals are the deciding factor in this battle, Victoria take the clear edge with 152 vs 129.

Teammates Joe Daniher and Charlie Cameron feature in the interstate pockets, competing with Luke Breust and Dustin Martin on the other side.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Charlie Cameron of the Lions celebrates a goal during the 2023 AFL Second Qualifying Final match between the Brisbane Lions and the Port Adelaide Power at The Gabba on September 09, 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Here are two dynamically different pairs of forward pocket players, with Daniher playing the third tall role and pinch-hitting in the ruck, while Breust and Martin make up a more conventional small-forward pairing.

Again, it's hard to decide a winner here, given the 2023 team form of Brisbane compared to Hawthorn and Richmond.

The forward flank battle is another interesting one; Christian Petracca & Gryan Miers against Connor Rozee and Toby Greene.

Petracca and Rozee add further midfield depth, though Petracca gets the slight edge in this battle. Greene, however, is hard to compete with for the interstate side, as skilful as Miers is entering forward 50.

The interstate team arguably gets the nod thanks to their powerful mix of key-post dominance, small-forward speed and craft as well as midfield depth.

Interchange

The battle of the bench is made up of Jack Viney, Jeremy Cameron, Isaac Quaynor and Tom Stewart for the Vics against Lachie Whitfield, Noah Anderson, Caleb Serong and Tim Kelly for interstate.

The interchange was largely picked by best available players remaining rather than positional depth management, giving the interstate side a plethora of midfield depth options with every single member being a mid of sorts.

Victoria are blessed with rock solid defensive backup options in Tom Stewart and Isaac Quaynor, while Jack Viney adds some toughness ad grit, and Cameron provides his prolific forward nous.

Whitfield provides elite run and dash while Anderson can easily drift forward for a goal or two for the interstate side, while Serong and Kelly both win plenty of pill when they roam through the middle.

Interstate obviously hold the midfield edge while Victoria fills a variety of needs off the interchange bench.

Full Teams

Unfortunately, the result of this heavyweight battle will be forever unknown, but a simple glance at either side shows that neither one has a distinctive edge or obvious advantage that would lead to a certain victory.

The league has come a long way since the days of the exclusive VFL competition.

With Tasmania entering the fold in the near future, experiments like these may soon be flipped to have a clear interstate advantage, gradually fading the notion of the Vic-leaning status as the competition expands further.

Here's how the two side line-up and the coaches that would lead them: