All Australian

What the 2023 AFL All-Australian team might look like after Round 20

Six changes have been made since our last All-Australian team selection after Round 15.

Published by

Frank Seal

The race to the final eight is on and the competition's best have stood tall in some big moments to win games for their side, and a spot in Zero Hanger's preliminary rolling All-Australian team.

Only four matches remain for outside contenders to make a final push, but plenty of names look to be set in stone.

Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Toby Greene and a few others are in the team with an inarguable case to their name, while others will need to keep up their form for a little while longer to cement themselves.

Here's how our rolling All-Australian side reads after Round 20...

VIEW: OUR ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM AFTER ROUND 15
RELATED: PICK YOUR AA TEAM FOR 2023

Defenders

Two changes have been made to the rearguard as Harris Andrews and Charlie Ballard make room for Sam Taylor and James Sicily, who has been lifted from the interchange bench.

Should Sam Taylor play out the remainder of the season, he will have fielded 16 matches, one more than Ablett in his 15-game All-Australian campaign in 2014.

Taylor has clearly been the number one defender in the competition when he has played, having lost just five 1v1 contests out of a whopping 51 from 12 matches.

Add that to his 4.2 intercept marks per game and 2.3 contested marks per game, and we begin to understand why some tout him as potentially the generational backman of this era.

James Sicily has significantly added to his football resume this season with standout intercepting and kicking performances from the top shelf, and as captain of a side often punching above their weight.

He was a stiff omission from last year's side and will still need to take the field in the remaining matches to lock himself in, but his value is unquestioned.

Dan Houston, Nick Daicos and Jack Sinclair all keep their spot having maintained their quality form, the only question could revolve around Daicos and his midfield minutes through the back half of the season.

Off the interchange bench, Tom Stewart has had a comparable year to James Sicily, at times holding up the Geelong defence on his own and being often being employed as Chris Scott's Mr. fix it.

Jordan Dawson also features as a potential half-back roamer.

Midfielders

Tim English still hasn't moved from his ruck spot, but Max Gawn is coming in hot. Four more matches of similar form to his last month could make things interesting for Gawn at season's end.

Three changes have otherwise been made to last edition's midfield, as Tom Liberatore, Zach Merrett and Errol Gulden have all staked their claim among the best of the best on-field.

Gulden replaces Nic Martin on the wing opposite Josh Daicos while 'Libba' and Merrett replace Zak Butters and Christian Petracca, who are positioned elsewhere.

To his credit, Liberatore has sustained his current form for just about the entire season, yet been overshadowed by teammates Marcus Bontempelli and Tim English.

His ground-ball, clearance, and tackling prowess has torn through opponents for weeks on end and with three All-Australian contenders starting in their midfield, fans would be perplexed by the Bulldogs' poor results in winnable games this season.

Butters, whose form drop has not been drastic by any stretch, is moved to the bench while Lachie Neale moves past Tim Taranto as the final backup option.

Forwards

Just one list change was made to the forward line from Eound 15 and it is thanks to the coaching of Simon Goodwin and his tactical move of Christian Petracca to a prominent front-half role.

Petracca may well have polled a perfect nine Brownlow votes for Rounds 17, 18 and 19 when he was moved forward and has become the most dangerous forward of centre player in the competition as the season reaches its climax.

He is placed on the flank opposite Connor Rozee, while Shai Bolton moves to the pocket opposite Toby Greene, unfortunately replacing Charlie Cameron in the process.

Charlie Curnow and Taylor Walker stay as the two front-running key forward options, both clear a-top the Coleman Medal race with Tex still to play West Coast in what could be a deciding round 24 Coleman clash.