The 2025 AFL All-Australian Team after being announced at the AFL Awards Night. Picture: AFL Photos

GEELONG star Jeremy Cameron has been named All-Australian captain after picking up his fifth blazer, while Hawthorn defender Josh Battle and Brisbane livewire Zac Bailey are among 11 first-timers in the best team of 2025.

The Lions and Western Bulldogs lead the way with three selections each, with Bailey joined by teammates Harris Andrews and Hugh McCluggage – who has finally won a blazer after four near-misses – while the Bulldogs are represented by Marcus Bontempelli, Bailey Dale and first-timer Ed Richards.

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Adelaide, Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn and Melbourne have two selections each, while Collingwood, St Kilda and Sydney have one each.

None of Carlton, Essendon, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond and West Coast had a player selected in the final team.

It’s a seventh blazer for Bontempelli while Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has won his record-equalling eighth, becoming just the seventh man in history to do so, as the sole ruckman in the 22.

Gawn joins greats Gary Ablett snr, Gary Ablett jnr, Patrick Dangerfield, Lance Franklin, Robert Harvey and Mark Ricciuto with eight All-Australian selections.

Cameron, who won the Coleman Medal by 14 goals, leads a forward line that includes Adelaide youngster Riley Thilthorpe and Hawthorn veteran Jack Gunston, whose second blazer comes seven years after his first.

But there is no room for Collingwood veteran Jamie Elliott, with Bailey, Sydney star Isaac Heeney and Melbourne first-timer Kysaiah Pickett also picked in the forward line.

The midfield group is led by Richards, Gold Coast skipper Noah Anderson and Crows captain Jordan Dawson, who have relegated Bontempelli and Collingwood star Nick Daicos to the bench alongside fellow midfielders Caleb Serong and Matt Rowell.

Noah Anderson after being named in the AFL All-Australian Team during the 2025 AFL Awards at Centrepiece on August 28, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

McCluggage and Bailey Smith have been picked on the wings, but there is no room for the likes of Zak Butters and Max Holmes.

Andrews has been selected for the first time in five years in a defensive group that also includes GWS star Sam Taylor, while Hawks recruit Battle is perhaps the most surprising selection in the back pocket.

Dale, Fremantle’s Jordan Clark and St Kilda star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera fill the other spots in the back six.

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is interviewed after being named in the AFL All-Australian Team during the 2025 AFL Awards at Centrepiece on August 28, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

The 11 first-timers are Anderson, Bailey, Battle, Clark, McCluggage, Pickett, Richards, Rowell, Smith, Thilthorpe and Wanganeen-Milera.

The 2025 selection panel consisted of Andrew Dillon (Chair), Eddie Betts, Jude Bolton, Nathan Buckley, Kane Cornes, Abbey Holmes, Glen Jakovich, Laura Kane and Matthew Pavlich.

Team members by club
Brisbane – 3
Western Bulldogs – 3
Adelaide – 2
Fremantle – 2
Geelong – 2
Greater Western Sydney – 2
Hawthorn – 2
Melbourne – 2
Collingwood – 1
St Kilda – 1
Sydney – 1

2025 All-Australian team

FB: Josh Battle, Sam Taylor, Jordan Clark
HB: Bailey Dale, Harris Andrews, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
C: Bailey Smith, Jordan Dawson (vc), Hugh McCluggage
HF: Isaac Heeney, Jeremy Cameron (c), Zac Bailey
FF: Jack Gunston, Riley Thilthorpe, Kysaiah Pickett
Foll: Max Gawn, Noah Anderson, Ed Richards
I/C: Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli, Caleb Serong, Matt Rowell