Jacob Weitering has at last broken through for his maiden All-Australian blazer, with the Carlton superstar named at full back in the 2024 season’s best team.
Having been controversially snubbed in each of the last two seasons, the 2015 AFL Draft’s No.1 pick couldn’t be overlooked after a dominant season to help the Blues reach finals, in which he was all but unbeatable in one-on-one contests.
However, Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews was controversially snubbed despite leading the AFL for intercept marks, with West Coast veteran Jeremy McGovern named to his fifth All-Australian team ahead of him and no third key defender named.
Port Adelaide half-back Dan Houston was likewise named on a half-back flank, a bittersweet award given he will miss the 2024 finals series for his infamous bump that concussed Adelaide’s Izak Rankine in the Showdown.
Sydney dasher Nick Blakey, Brisbane veteran Dayne Zorko and Fremantle distributor Luke Ryan rounded out the back six.
The All-Australian midfield boasted a who’s who of the game’s elite, with all six players named boasting at least one previous selection.
Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn further cemented his claim as the greatest ruckman in VFL/AFL history, named to the team for the seventh time, while Marcus Bontempelli (six) and Patrick Cripps (five) were other repeat nominees selected.
Cripp was the only one of the six who missed out on the 2023 team, with Caleb Serong, Nick Daicos and Errol Gulden, as well as Gawn and Bontempelli, making consecutive teams.
The forward line was the opposite, with four first-time nominees: Sydney on-baller Chad Warner, Hawthorn star Dylan Moore, GWS Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan and West Coast spearhead Jake Waterman.
While spending most of the season in the midfield, Warner (32 goals) and second-time nominee Isaac Heeney (28) both heavily impacted the scoreboard, ensuring their selection in the always controversial half-forward flank spots.
Four-time team member Jeremy Cameron edged out Brisbane’s Joe Daniher at centre-half forward, while Hogan, with 69 goals for the season and more marks inside 50 than anyone else, picked himself at full-forward.
Brisbane star and reigning Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale was named on the interchange bench, while GWS half-back and Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters were named to their second All-Australian teams.
In a heartwarming story, Western Bulldogs veteran Adam Treloar was named to his first All-Australian team, finishing with more disposals per match than any other player in the league in a career-best campaign in the Bulldogs’ finals run.
It meant there was no room for Essendon skipper Zach Merrett, seen as a chance to be named as the team captain heading in; along with Andrews and North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri, Merrett was arguably the unluckiest snub of the year’s team.
All up, there were seven first-time selections in the 2024 team – Blakey, Weitering, Warner, Waterman, Hogan, Moore and Treloar.
Bontempelli’s status as a modern great of the game was ratified by being named the team’s captain, while Cripps was given the nod as vice-captain.
2024 All-Australian team
BACKS: Nick Blakey (Sydney), Jacob Weitering (Carlton), Luke Ryan (Fremantle)
HALF-BACKS: Dayne Zorko (Brisbane), Jeremy McGovern (West Coast), Dan Houston (Port Adelaide)
CENTRES: Errol Gulden (Sydney), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs, captain), Nick Daicos (Collingwood)
FOLLOWERS: Max Gawn (Melbourne), Patrick Cripps (Carlton, vice-captain), Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
HALF-FORWARDS: Chad Warner (Sydney), Jeremy Cameron (Geelong), Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
FORWARDS: Jake Waterman (West Coast), Jesse Hogan (GWS), Dylan Moore (Hawthorn)
INTERCHANGE: Lachie Whitfield (GWS), Lachie Neale (Brisbane), Adam Treloar (Western Bulldogs), Zak Butters (Port Adelaide)
Dempsey claims Rising Star win, Bont creates history with third MVP gong
Geelong wingman Ollie Dempsey has capped an outstanding 2024 season by being named the AFL Rising Star Award winner.
The 21-year old, who played every game in his third season and dazzled as the Cats rebounded from missing the finals in 2023 to storm into the top four, polled 52 of a possible 55 votes, awarded by eleven judges including AFL CEO Andrew Dillon on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Dempsey finished well clear of runner-up, North Melbourne bull George Wardlaw (43 votes), while Brisbane goalsneak Kai Lohmann (21) rounded out the top three.
In a cheeky moment, the Cat thanked the AFL Tribunal in his winners’ speech, who suspended mid-season frontrunners Sam Darcy (Western Bulldogs) and Harley Reid (West Coast) to rule them ineligible for the award.
Western Bulldogs champion Marcus Bontempelli has made history by becoming just the second player to claim the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL Players Association’s Most Valuable Player for the third time.
The Bulldogs captain, widely regarded as the game’s best player, won the award, widely regarded as the most prestigious in the AFL alongside the Brownlow Medal, for the second year in a row.
Having also won in 2021, he has now claimed the top gong, first awarded in 1982, for the second-most times in its history, behind only former Geelong and Gold Coast champion Gary Ablett (five times).
Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps and Sydney superstar Isaac Heeney finished second and third, while Collingwood’s Nick Daicos finished fourth and GWS Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan rounded out the top five as a surprise bolter.
Earlier in the night, Bontempelli was also named the AFLPA’s best captain.
“To be alongside some of the other names on the plaque is a cherished achievement that I care about,” Bontempelli said.
“I’m not even close to Gary’s total, which shows how good he was for such a long period of time. But to be in the same conversation, while hard to get my head around, is an honour and one that will continue to find meaning long after my career is finished.
“I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Daicos received a prestigious award of his own, claiming the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year award, narrowly pipping Cripps and Heeney.
In a tight finish, Daicos’ 117 votes finished ahead of Cripps on 113 and Heeney on 112.
Crucially, Heeney, who led the count after 23 rounds, was rested for the Swans’ Round 24 clash with Adelaide, allowing Daicos, who was five votes behind, to leapfrog him with a perfect 10 in the Magpies’ win over Melbourne.
The Magpie’s votes tally is the most in a single AFL season since Dustin Martin (122) and Patrick Dangerfield (118) in 2017. He is expected to poll similarly well in this year’s Brownlow Medal count.
He polled in 16 of 24 matches, while he was adjudged best afield by both coaches five times.
Coaches votes were made public following the first 22 rounds of the season, but were kept hidden after the final two rounds to ensure the winner could be announced on Awards Night.
Bontempelli, meanwhile, could ‘only’ finish sixth.
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12 months on from winning the AFL Rising Star Award, North Melbourne star Harry Sheezel was named the AFL Coaches Association’s Best Young Player.
The award tallies coaches votes across a player’s first two seasons – Sheezel’s 65 votes saw him finish well ahead of runner-up Will Ashcroft (38).
Having booted 69 goals for the season, Hogan was officially awarded his first Coleman Medal, becoming the first ever player to have won both the Coleman and the AFL Rising Star award, which he won in 2015.
The AFLPA’s Best First Year Player was Reid, despite his ineligibility for the Rising Star; while for the second year in a row, Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters was named the association’s Most Courageous Player, winning the Robert Rose Award.
MORE TO COME