{"id":719652,"date":"2026-06-06T20:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719652\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T20:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:14:16","slug":"bailey-kozzy-and-the-wizard-have-made-it-but-the-strength-of-this-side-is-in-who-misses-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719652\/","title":{"rendered":"Bailey, \u2018Kozzy\u2019 and \u2018the Wizard\u2019 have made it, but the strength of this side is in who misses out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

\"JakeJake Niall<\/a>Chief football writer, The Age<\/p>\n

June 7, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

June 7, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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The game\u2019s best defender over the past four years, Harris Andrews, has not produced at his premium level this year, while the AFL\u2019s highest-paid player<\/a>, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, has been curtailed by injury.<\/p>\n

Hawthorn\u2019s Josh Battle has been better than solid, but not All-Australian standard. Ditto Bulldogs playmaker Bailey Dale and Fremantle\u2019s Jordan Clark. Giant Sam Taylor, whose aerial prowess rivals that of Andrews, has barely played.<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey Smith, Kysaiah Pickett and Nick Watson have all been outstanding to the midway point of the 2026 season.Artwork: Stephen Kiprillis<\/p>\n

Not one defender from the AFL\u2019s official team of the year in 2025 has performed at a level sufficient to make this All-Australian team at the season\u2019s mid-point.<\/p>\n

Carlton\u2019s Jacob Weitering, a constant contender for a berth in the AFL\u2019s best side, is another tall defender whose output has been below his standard.<\/p>\n

Maybe the rule changes and the quicker ball movement and greater space have made it harder for the AFL\u2019s defenders as scoring has risen. Or, in Andrews\u2019 and Weitering\u2019s case, are they predominantly victims of downturns of their teams\u2019 midfields?<\/p>\n

Whatever the cause, gun defenders \u2013 be they tall backs or runners who set up play \u2013 haven\u2019t stood out as they did in the previous decade. Up to his injury, Wanganeen-Milera had been deployed everywhere; he wasn\u2019t a half-back any longer.<\/p>\n

\"StSt Kilda co-captain Callum Wilkie, while underrated by some, is one of the best defenders in the AFL.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The only absolute standout tall defender isn\u2019t a genuine key-position player, St Kilda\u2019s co-captain Callum Wilkie, who often finds himself matched to taller opponents, and yet finds a way to stymie the behemoths and find the ball.<\/p>\n

Wilkie, the centre half-back in my mid-season All-Australian side, and the team\u2019s full-back, Sam Collins (Gold Coast), were both latecomers to the AFL \u2013 Wilkie ditching his accounting career and part-time footy at North Adelaide to join the Saints in 2018\u2019s rookie draft, the same year that the Suns shrewdly recruited Collins (who had been cut by Fremantle) from relative obscurity in Werribee.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Wayne Milera of the Crows has been exceptional as a small running defender, and gets one slot in the back six. Hawk Jarman Impey is another small backman whose excellence has, finally, been noticed. Sydney\u2019s Nick Blakey is the best tall\/small running half-back in the caper \u2013 \u201cthe Lizard\u201d, though, could not ever be described as \u201cdefender\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That leaves one spot, which came down to Hawthorn\u2019s super interceptor James Sicily and Collingwood\u2019s pit bull Brayden Maynard, who has held the Magpies\u2019 defence together, often by manning taller men \u2013 and quelling them. Maynard got the nod due to his defensive versatility and ferocity.<\/p>\n

Maynard (2022) and Wilkie (2023) aside, the defenders are all upstarts in this team.<\/p>\n

Then there are the usual suspects.<\/p>\n

Marcus Bontempelli, Nick Daicos and Isaac Heeney have stood apart as the AFL\u2019s premier trio since 2024 \u2013 earlier in the case of \u201cthe Bont\u201d, who in the absence of the repeatedly concussed Tom Liberatore, and with Ed Richards struggling until lately, has carried the kind of load that Patrick Cripps has long shouldered.<\/p>\n

Heeney\u2019s goal-kicking prowess and marking means he can be selected at half-forward, allowing Bontempelli and Daicos to complement the AFL\u2019s most dynamic ruck\/follower of this time, Fremantle\u2019s Luke Jackson, who edges out the generational ruckman Max Gawn<\/a> (on track for his ninth AA jumper).<\/p>\n

\"MarcusMarcus Bontempelli\u2019s leadership is matched only by his output.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gawn makes the five-man bench, just pipping his 2023 teammate Brodie Grundy, who has flourished under Dean Cox\u2019s tutelage.<\/p>\n

If \u201cBont\u201d, Daicos and Heeney are the top troika, then Zak Butters might be the fourth best in the AFL, and some would put him on the podium. In what will likely be his final season at Port Adelaide, Butters has shown a champion\u2019s resolve \u2013 irrespective of the opponent, scoreboard and situation, Zak\u2019s attack on the ball never ceases.<\/p>\n

Kysaiah Pickett has been the most electrifying player in 2026 to date, his move into the midfield enabling Melbourne\u2019s unexpected rise to the top eight (to now). It is permissible to pick \u201cKozzy\u201d at half-forward, so I have done so.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Jack Gunston (forward pocket) and Jeremy Cameron (full-forward), too, are forwards who\u2019ve done enough to warrant selection in a team that was composed before this weekend\u2019s round \u2013 Cameron having had one of his worst outings on Thursday night in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

\u201cJezza\u201d was clearly still carrying an arm injury, though.<\/p>\n

Nick Watson (forward pocket) is one of the first selected and is surely the most capable jockey-sized player since Brent Harvey. \u201cThe Wizard\u201d is mesmerising \u2013 a quick-footed (and witted), super-skilled footballer, who, like Cyril Rioli, gets brown-and-gold scarves fluttering and fans out of their seats.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The new chum in this forward line is Fremantle\u2019s Josh Treacy, whose selection in the rookie draft during COVID (2020) from the Bendigo Pioneers stands is one of the draft\u2019s most consequential calls. Others kick more goals, but no key forward competes more effectively.<\/p>\n

In 2026, there haven\u2019t been any wingmen \u2013 such as Hugh McCluggage of yesteryear \u2013 who\u2019ve done enough to earn a spot in the 23. So, I\u2019ve bent the rules, as the selectors do, and slotted two running mids on to the wings: Geelong speedster Max Holmes and another upstart, Swan Justin McInerney, who has made the great leap forward this year.<\/p>\n

Bailey Smith hasn\u2019t dropped off after his stunning first year at Geelong, and occupies one bench position, alongside Gawn, Gold Coast\u2019s seminal recruit Christian Petracca (who can play forward and midfield), and Fremantle\u2019s game-changer Shai Bolton \u2013 another midfielder\/forward hybrid.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Nick<\/a><\/p>\n

The fifth and final spot on the bench, in the first 23-man team? Many could fill it. Having picked a side on Thursday, Jordan Dawson reminded us all of his considerable talents that evening and confirmed his spot. He\u2019d already shown his resilience in his return after losing his brother Jaryd in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most unfortunate among the dozens of omissions \u2013 and some will move into the team by season\u2019s close \u2013 were Grundy, Sicily, Freo tyro Murphy Reid, North\u2019s goal sneak Paul Curtis, Sydney pair Tom McCartin and Chad Warner, and Giant running back Lachie Ash.<\/p>\n

Should Cripps and Carlton continue what the ABC\u2019s Corbin Middlemas called \u201cthe Honeymoon Frase\u201d \u2013 a reference to Josh Fraser\u2019s winning stewardship \u2013 they might complete an improbable double: the Blues in the expanded finals series, and Cripps a fifth all-Australian gong.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JakeJake Niall<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Jake NiallChief football writer, The Age June 7, 2026 \u2014 5:00am June 7, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-719652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}