This morning on SEN's Garry and Tim, Garry Lyon and Tim Watson unveiled their All-Australian midfields leading up to the bye weeks.

The two agreed upon a number of players, with the top crop of talent after the first half of the 2021 season undeniable.

The ruckman of which was one of them, with Melbourne captain Max Gawn in both champions' sides.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 05: Max Gawn of the Demons looks dejected after defeat after defeat with teammates during the round three AFL match between the Melbourne Demons and the Essendon Bombers at Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 05, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Lyon and Watson also agreed that there were six midfielders that stood tall amongst the rest of the competition, both including Ollie Wines, Clayton Oliver, Hugh McCluggage, Marcus Bontempelli, Sam Walsh and Christian Petracca on their lists.

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Garry Lyon's All-Australian Midfield:

  • Max Gawn*
  • Ollie Wines*
  • Clayton Oliver*
  • Hugh McCluggage*
  • Marcus Bontempelli*
  • Sam Walsh*
  • Christian Petracca*
  • Jarryd Lyons
  • Darcy Parish

Tim Watson's All-Australian Midfield:

  • Max Gawn*
  • Ollie Wines*
  • Clayton Oliver*
  • Cam Guthrie*
  • Marcus Bontempelli*
  • Sam Walsh*
  • Christian Petracca*
  • Zach Merrett
  • Touk Miller

*Feature in both sides

The final two spots in the midfield is where the two parted ways, with a battle between two Essendon guns left up for debate.

Lyon named Darcy Parish at the end of his list, and it's easy to see why. Parish has had 35+ disposals in five of his last six games and to go along with an average of nine clearances in each of the last six games.

This includes a 42-disposal, nine-clearance and two-goal clinic to earn him the ANZAC Day Medal against the Pies.

Whilst Parish looks to be playing undeniable All-Australian calibre football, Watson has been more bullish on Parish's teammate Zach Merrett.

The leader of the Bombers midfield, Merrett has put together an impressive season himself, leading his side to finals contention.

A shock omission from both lists was Bulldogs gun Jack Macrae. Although not as influential as his captain Bontempelli, Macrae consistently accumulates the football week in week out.

To this point in the season, Macrae has had at least 30 disposals in every game this season, unsurprisingly leading the AFL in both average disposals (35.2) and total disposals (387).

JACK MACRAE
Midfielder
Bulldogs
2021 SEASON AVG
33.9
Disposals
4.9
Tackles
6.8
Clearances

Another Bulldog midfielder that doesn't receive the same recognition as his teammates is Tom Liberatore, who ranks third in the competition for contested possessions (159), whilst also on track to potentially top Brett Ratten's all-time season clearance record so far winning 96 after 11 rounds.

The way the season has panned out, there are quite the number of midfielders who are proving themselves worthy of All Australian contention, as well as a number of others that were in early discussions before injuries set them back.

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Examples of which were Bulldogs duo Adam Treloar and Josh Dunkley, who were both piling the stat sheet each week prior to their long stints on the sidelines.

Despite his slow start to the season, 2020 Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale has also been limited in games played thanks to a nasty injury setback, joining other superstars Patrick Dangerfield and Toby Greene who would've also likely been in All-Australian contention.