If, like me, you have ever looked at an AFL All-Australian team and bemoaned how many pure midfielders the selectors have squeezed into forward pockets (and on both wings), then this team of the year is for you.
Any ‘team of the season’ comes with a myriad subjective selections — it is hard to separate those at the top end of any talent pool — which leaves the door open for a particular moment or match across the campaign to break the tie between players who are otherwise just as deserving of a place in the team.
But thanks to GVL Data, I’ve compiled a statistical — and objective — team of the year from the Goulburn Valley League.
Assigning a statistical category to each position on the ground — yes, I hear you yelling that the process of doing that is in itself subjective, and that lots of midfielders will still get a gig, but feel free to let me know where I’ve gotten it wrong — allowed me to simply plug the objectively best player from the season in that spot.
To avoid qualifiers of games played, this is a total season stats team of the year. I have no issues favouring players from teams who made finals.
There are about 25 ‘main’ stats that GVL Data works off of in terms of leaderboards across the season (plenty more when diving into individual teams and players) and I have removed four for varying reasons to give us 21 stats for 21 spots.
Kicking and disposal efficiency don’t mesh with our total stats parameters, turnovers could reflect someone taking the game on but they’re also an easy cut, as is hitouts, which is surplus to requirements when we also have hitouts to advantage. I’m not a big fan of actively picking two rucks in a team of the year anyway.
To give you a further glimpse into the ‘how the sausage was made’, I’ve tried to assign the most specific stats to their positions first and worked backwards from there, with dominance of category or strength of second spot also among the factors taken into consideration.
In the hitouts to advantage example — spoiler — Ash Holland comfortably takes the cake, so will be our ruck starter. But he also collected the most ranking points for the season, so someone further down that less-specific stat list will get a gig.
Hopefully, that all makes sense.
For reference, here’s the team of the year that the sports team compiled at the end of the season: https://www.sheppnews.com.au/sport/shepparton-news-presents-its-2024-goulburn-valley-league-senior-football-team-of-the-year/
GVL DATA TEAM OF THE YEAR
BACK POCKET (spoils): Ryan O’Keefe (Rochester)
O’Keefe managed 105 spoils this season, 45 more than the next best.
FULL-BACK (kicks): Angus Hanrahan (Mooroopna)
Fourth on this list behind others already locked into spots, Hanrahan secured 357 kicks this year.
BACK POCKET (one percenters): Liam Duguid (Shepparton)
O’Keefe actually led this category as well, with 132, but Duguid’s 110 was a much stronger second spot than the pair of 60s in the spoils section.
HALF-BACK (rebound 50s): Curtis Ryan (Tatura)
Ryan slung the ball forward from defence 151 times this season, 31 more than the next best player.
CENTRE HALF-BACK (intercept marks): Andrew Riordan (Shepparton Swans)
A tight one here, with Riordan snaring 49 intercept marks over Shepparton United’s Aaron Britten’s 48.
HALF-BACK (ranking points): Luke Smith (Shepparton)
Playing a bit out of position, but deserving of his spot nonetheless, is Shepparton’s Smith. His 2436 ranking points had him seventh for the season.
WING (inside 50s): Adam De Cicco (Shepparton)
The Shepparton star racked up 119 inside 50s this season and also featured heavily among the top echelon of plenty of other categories.
CENTRE (clearances): Jack McHale (Echuca)
A unique case here in that McHale led the competition in four separate categories, but I’ve gone with his 180 clearances as the most impressive.
WING (marks): Jack Murphy (Seymour)
Murphy led all-comers for marks this GVL campaign with 171.
HALF-FORWARD (score involvements): Joel Brett (Shepparton)
Brett actually finished third with 173 score involvements, but his inclusion does mean the top seven players in this category have found their way into the side through one stat or another.
CENTRE HALF-FORWARD (contested marks): Riley Mason (Seymour)
A total of 59 contested marks for the season puts Mason as our clear aerial threat in attack.
HALF-FORWARD (goal assists): Trent Herbert (Shepparton)
Herbert managed 31 goal assists this season to go with 52 majors of his own.
FORWARD POCKET (marks inside 50): Wil Hamilton (Rochester)
Wedged in between Mason (86) and the duo of Anthony Depasquale and Herbert (72) was Rochester’s Hamilton with 74 marks inside 50 this year.
FULL-FORWARD (goals): Anthony Depasquale (Kyabram)
Conjecture on his overall total aside, Depasquale and Mason both threatened the 70-goal mark this season and comfortably deserve their spots in the spine of this side.
FORWARD POCKET (forward 50 tackles): Lewis McShane (Shepparton)
McShane laid 36 tackles in the attacking arc this campaign, one less than Depasquale.
RUCK (hitouts to advantage): Ash Holland (Shepparton)
Holland compiled 239 hitouts to advantage this season — 97 more than the next best — on the way to collecting the Morrison Medal.
He also clearly took out the hitouts category as well, with 1082, a ridiculous 363 more than second spot.
RUCK ROVER (contested possessions): Keelin Betson (Mooroopna)
Betson secured 334 contested possessions this season, behind only McHale in the category.
He’s also our very capable second-ruck in this team, although we may have to juggle the rotations a bit.
ROVER (groundball gets): Mitch Trewhella (Rochester)
Trewhella actually led a different category (tackles) and was third in this one with 177, but I rate the specificity of groundball gets and a starting spot on field higher.
INTERCHANGE (disposals): Nathan Beattie (Seymour)
McCarthy had 587 disposals this season, placing him fourth on the list.
INTERCHANGE (tackles): Jed Woods (Mooroopna)
A total of 149 tackles for Woods places him third for the year.
INTERCHANGE (handballs): Coby McCarthy (Mooroopna)
Third on the list with 305 handballs was Mooroopna’s McCarthy.
UNLUCKY: Mark Marriott (Benalla)
Clearly the second-best ruck for the season, Marriott was also the only member of the top 10 ranking points leaderboard to miss out on the GVL Data Team of the Year. He was also one of eight players who made the Shepparton News GVL Team of the Year but didn’t make this statistical side.
GVL DATA TEAM OF THE YEAR
B: Ryan O’Keefe, Angus Hanrahan, Liam Duguid.
HB: Curtis Ryan, Andrew Riordan, Luke Smith.
C: Adam De Cicco, Jack McHale, Jack Murphy.
HF: Joel Brett, Riley Mason, Trent Herbert.
FF: Wil Hamilton, Anthony Depasquale, Lewis McShane.
R: Ash Holland, Keelin Betson, Mitch Trewhella.
I/C: Nathan Beattie, Jed Woods, Coby McCarthy.