10 rounds now into the 2023 season and just as the ladder begins separating itself, so does the elite talent of the competition. 13 of the previous 22 have maintained their quality form through five more rounds of footy, while some typical stars have flourished into the middle section of the season.
A plethora of players can count themselves stiff to be missing out given their stats or performance relative to team success. The likes of Oscar Allen, Noah Anderson and Luke Ryan have put together best & fairest worthy seasons thus far but unfortunately miss out on a spot.
The three bottom sides, West Coast, North Melbourne and Hawthorn, go unrepresented in this team, while Richmond and Essendon each hold players on the fringe of selection. Seven clubs feature multiple players, with two premiership fancies managing three each in our rolling All-Australian side after Round 10.
VIEW: OUR ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM AFTER ROUND 5
2. Midfielders
Through the midfield we've seen big man Tim English maintain his status as the league's best ruckman so far, with Sean Darcy and Jarrod Witts now closely following. He's become a Swiss army knife in the Bulldogs lineup given his effectiveness at stoppage, in the aerial contest and at ground level as the sole ruckman.
At ruck rover, Clayton Oliver's production has been typical, he's an elite contested, ground-ball and clearance player who's been involved in the fourth most scores this season. At rover, Zak Butters has glued his magnet into the All-Australian midfield with a run of form second to none over the past seven weeks and a Round 10 performance against Melbourne from the top shelf.
Marcus Bontempelli remains captain of the side after lifting the Bulldogs into an elite patch of form and taking a backseat in recent weeks to allow Jack Macrae, Bailey Smith and Caleb Daniel to shine. When the going gets tough, expect 'the Bont' to take control of the Bulldogs season once again.
On the outside, Josh Daicos keeps his spot next to his younger brother but Mason Wood is just edged out by a rampaging Errol Gulden, whose last three weeks have served him well enough to earn a spot despite the Swans' woes.
On the interchange, Tom Liberatore just misses out on a starting spot but has nonetheless demanded selection with his contest and clearance dominance, capped off by his goalkicking knack. Caleb Serong is relegated to the bench to accommodate the dominance of other mids but he has maintained his All-Australian form as Fremantle have risen.
