As of this point in time (middle of Round 15), here's my team:
B: R.Murphy (WB) - A.Rance (Rich) - M.Hurley (Ess)*
HB: E.Wood (WB) - J.McGovern (WCE) - H.Shaw (GWS)*
C: A.Gaff (WCE) - M.Priddis (WCE) - I.Smith (Haw)*
HF: C.Wingard (PA)* - L.Franklin (Syd)* - D.Martin (Rich)
F: E.Betts (Adel)* - J.Kennedy (WCE) - J.Riewoldt (Rich)
R: T.Goldstein (NM) - N.Fyfe (Fre) - S.Pendlebury (Coll)
Int: D.Hannebery (Syd) - S.Mitchell (Haw) - N.Naitanui (WCE)* - D.Armitage (StK)
* indicates players I feel are under the most pressure to hold their spots over the remaining rounds
On The Cusp (no particular order - the 22 'unluckiest')
J.Lewis (Haw) - mid
J.Steven (StK) - mid / wing
L.Neale (Fre) - mid
M.Williams (Coll) - small back pocket / half back flank
R.Laird (Adel) - half back flank / small back pocket
P.Dangerfield (Adel) - mid / half forward
M.Boyd (WB) - back pocket / half back flank
J.Bruce (StK) - key forward
A.Sandilands (Fre) - ruck
R.Gray (PA) - mid / half forward
B.Vince (Melb) - mid (best run-with player)
D.Talia (Adel) - key defender
T.McDonald (Melb) - key defender
J.Gibson (Haw) - third tall in defence
L.Hodge (Haw) - the everywhereman and arguably the best leader
D.Mundy (Fre) - mid
S.Hill (Fre) - wing / outside mid
J.Cameron (GWS) - key forward
L.Parker (Syd) - mid / half forward
J.Elliott (Coll) - small forward
C.Rioli (Haw) - small forward
S.Higgins (NM) - half forward
Still in the mix (no particular order)
M.Walters (Fre)
M.Blicavs (Geel)
J.Stringer (WB)
N.Riewoldt (StK)
H.Taylor (Geel)
J.Rivers (Geel)
D.Heppell (Ess)
T.Cotchin (Rich)
D.Shiel (GWS)
B.Ellis (Rich)
K.Simpson (Carl)
D.Swan (Coll)
T.Cloke (Coll)
C.Enright (Geel)
J.Hombsch (PA)
J.Kennedy (Syd)
L.Dahlhaus (WB)
A.Treloar (GWS)
C.Hooker (Ess)
M.LeCras (WCE)
D.Beams (Bris)
L.Picken (WB)
G.Ibbotson (Fre)
B.Hill (Haw)
I suppose my main point of difference will be Isaac Smith on a wing. Besides Gaff, I found it difficult to find another true wingman deserving of that spot. I initially had Hannebery in there, but decided that wasn't appropriate. For mine, Smith has had an excellent season and has provided enormous drive for the Hawks, especially with guys like Birchall (injury) and Suckling (form) down on their regular output. That said, Smith is clearly the most contentious selection in my starting 18 and he may well not be in there come Round 23. Have there been two better true wingmen than him to this point?
On the subject of Hannebery, it's pretty much a disgrace that he's not in the starting 18, but it would be equally ridiculous to dump any of Priddis (arguably playing better than his Brownlow year), Fyfe (best player in the league by a street) or Pendlebury (pure silk) to the bench, and I really didn't think it was appropriate to put any of those 4 at half forward or half back (and I personally don't consider any of them as wingmen), so there you go. I'm more fussy about putting players in their real positions than the actual AA selectors will be so no doubt all 4 of those will find their way into the eventual starting 18. Maybe Fyfe at half forward would solve this, but it just doesn't seem a grand enough gesture to put him there considering he's arguably having the greatest season of all time playing predominantly as a midfielder.
Michael Hurley is an interesting one. I'd argue that every team should have 2 genuine key defenders and then another tallish defender who can stand the Jack Gunston's of the world. Rance and McGovern appear to be absolute locks for two of those 3 positions at this point (barring injury). Hurley has been excellent IMO, but it will be interesting to see if he gets the recognition from selectors considering the plight of his team.
I'm not really convinced by my Naitanui selection but I feel an AA team needs to have someone who can at least provide a chopout in the ruck, and none of my forwards really fit that bill so I went with Nic Nat off the bench. His game against the Crows in Round 15 was one of the most dominant games from a ruckman I've seen in years, but I'm not sure his first 6 weeks of the season justifies this selection. We'll see. If Gerard Healy is still on the selection panel, Nic Nat could take the rest of the season off and still make it.
Team needs more Freo in it. One of Mundy or Neale will end up making it for sure. Maybe Sandilands will end up in there instead of Nic Nat (I went with Nic Nat because having both of Goldstein and Sandilands just seems a bit too dinosaurish). Maybe Stephen Hill will get a gig on a wing. Maybe Walters sneaks in. The individual brilliance of others combined with positional needs is keeping them out for me at this point. It's not an easy task to get them in!
Apologies to the people who feel I've slighted blokes on their team by not including them either in my 22 or in my list of other players that are close. It's all just subjective opinion at the end of the day, and I'm bound to have missed at least 10 guys around the league who are having great years.