It's an honour that always drums up water cooler chat and incites comment section fracas'.
Each year's All-Australian team is designed to reward individual excellence and one's play, relative to those who are deployed in the same position.
While it's a lineup usually littered with the game's biggest names, lesser lights who chart a path to a blazer each year make for some of the best stories.
Who are a few doing just that, with this season now beyond its halfway junction? Take a look!
Oliver Dempsey
Dempsey's potential inclusion hinges on the same question faced by his predecessors.
“Will the All-Australian selection committee select genuine wingmen for the two specialist positions?”
Often, the answer is no, as selectors clamber to squeeze as many of the competition's on-ball superstars into the side as possible, lest an ego be bruised or a marketing opportunity missed.
If, as is a rarity, the answer is yes, Dempsey is simply a shoo-in.
The athletic Cat is re-defining his position, with mastercoach Chris Scott all too comfortable trusting the 23-year-old's discretion. He decides when to hold his width, when to play accountable football, when to sneak forward and jag a major, and, more often than not, the Rising Star winner of 2024 chooses correctly.
The game needs to reward excellence at one of its few specialist positions. There was unanimous joy when it did so in 2023, awarding Errol Gulden and Josh Daicos the distinction for exemplary seasons out wide, and the committee can expect similar acclaim should a similar path be taken this season.
