10 rounds in and the 2024 AFL season remains as wide open as ever.
While the contenders have mostly separated themselves from the bottom-dwellers, the ladder is batting deeper than ever and stars from every team are making a compelling case for their own accolades and All-Australian credentials.
Individual performers like Harry Sheezel, Nick Vlastuin and Dylan Moore have earned praise for their efforts lifting a struggling side, while crops of players like Sydndey quartet Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Errol Gulden and Chad Warner are all shining as a superstar unit for a top-end contender.
A host of names find themselves very stiff to miss out but in a competition growing evermore stacked with talent, it's only the absolute cream of the crop who can scrape into the best 22.
Luke Ryan, Sam Taylor and Lachie Whitfield have continued in fine form since their Round 5 selections, but as GWS dip down the ladder, pressure is building on the two Giants to lift their side and retain their spot.
Luke Ryan's work often goes unpraised and even ridiculed for inflation, but he nonetheless continues to stuff the stat sheet and affect multiple areas of the game in the Dockers defence.
2023 All-Australian Dan Houston finds his way into the side as an ideal rebound kicker with some forward 50 flare when finding the footy up the ground.
Sun Sam Collins and Lion Harris Andrews also earn spots on the last line thanks to their consistent starts to the season, making up a potent intercepting and one-on-one duo.
Stiff to miss:
This year's crop of mids will provide more All-Australian selection headaches than perhaps ever before, with a countless number playing exceptional footy or in career-best form.
Nick Daicos, Caleb Serong and Isaac Heeney get the starting trio nod, with Heeney clearly earning the keys to the midfield over dual-position superstars Christian Petracca and Marcus Bontempelli, who sit forward to start.
Nic Martin and Errol Gulden patrol the wings, typically providing elite ball use while charging forward. Josh Kelly unfortunately misses out as he nurses a calf strain, though his disposal and goalkicking knack so far this season has been exceptional.
Zach Merrett, Patrick Cripps and Zak Butters all start on the pine, rounding out probably the deepest midfield possible in today's competition.
Max Gawn starts at ruck in yet another season of top-notch ruck craft and around the ground presence from the big fella.
Stiff to miss:
With four players currently tied for the Coleman Medal on 29 goals, the All-Australian front-line is a difficult crop to decipher.
We've included three of the names, with Charlie Curnow stretching out his two-year period of key-forward dominance in a race for a third straight Coleman.
Jesse Hogan and Jake Waterman are the other two who sit tied at the top, each enjoying a return to form of the highest order in two shock 2024 campaigns.
Izak Rankine solidified his spot on the forward pocket with another damaging display of front-half footy over the weekend, albeit playing predominantly midfield.
A suspected three-week hamstring injury to the mercurial forward, however, may open the door for another small to stake their claim over the coming weeks.
Silky high-forward Gryan Miers rounds out the frontier on the bench, maintaining his performance despite Geelong's recent struggles.
Stiff to miss:
FB: Sam Collins (GC), Harris Andrews (BRIS), Luke Ryan (FRE)
HB: Lachie Whitfield (GWS), Sam Taylor (GWS), Dan Houston (PA)
C: Nic Martin (ESS), Isaac Heeney (SYD), Errol Gulden (SYD)
HF: Marcus Bontempelli (WB), Charlie Curnow (CARL), Christian Petracca (MELB)
FF: Izak Rankine (ADEL), Jesse Hogan (GWS), Jake Waterman (WCE)
R: Max Gawn (MELB), Nick Daicos (COLL), Caleb Serong (FRE)
I/C: Zak Butters (PA), Patrick Cripps (CARL), Zach Merrett (ESS), Gryan Miers (GEEL)