The 2025 All-Australian team was announced in another glittering ceremony on Thursday night, with Max Gawn grabbing a slice of history and 11 players earning a jacket for the first time.
Melbourne skipper Gawn earned a record-equalling eighth All-Australian nod, while Jeremy Cameron was named a surprise captain and somehow Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli and Matt Rowell were all relegated to the bench.
As always, there were also some glaring omissions after the squad of 44 was whittled down to the final 22.
Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy, an All-Australian twice when he was with the Pies in 2018 and 2019, failed to earn recognition for an outstanding season in Sydney as the committee stuck to the recent trend of only picking one ruckman.
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Jamie Elliott, Nick Vlaustin, Luke Jackson, Dayne Zorko, Max Holmes and Izak Rankine were among the other names that were notable absentees.
The one that seems to have caused the biggest issue across the footy world, however, was Adelaide intercept king Josh Worrell.
The 24-year-old key defender had the second most intercepts in the league this season, behind only teammate Mark Keane, who also missed out on AA selection.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon chaired this year's committee, which also featured Eddie Betts, Jude Bolton, Nathan Buckley, Kane Cornes, Abbey Holmes, Glen Jakovich, Laura Kane and Matthew Pavlich.
David King discussed some of the decisions with committe member Cornes on SEN Fireball.
King questioned the selection of Hawthorn's Josh Battle in a back pocket, prompting Cornes to ask the former North Melbourne champion who he would have picked ahead of him.
“I think (Josh) Worrell has probably had a better season," King replied. "I think (Nick) Vlastuin has probably had a better season.
"They would be the two that I think would consider themselves unlucky for that spot.”
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Cornes then put forward the case for Battle.
"I think Battle takes the best opposition forward, Vlastuin doesn’t do that," he reasoned.
"I’m not here to defend the team, but if you look at (Battle’s) record on the best this year, it is extraordinary. His performance on the opposition’s most dangerous forward was outstanding.”
Asked if Worrell was the most unlucky player to miss out, Cornes replied: “No, I think there was a couple of unlucky players.
"I loved Josh Worrell’s season. As a collective, we’re very happy with the team.”