The Brisbane Lions will be without any representation in the AFL All Australian team for the sixth time in eight years following Tuesday’s announcement of the 40-man preliminary squad.
The Lions were one of five clubs - along with Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs - without any ‘contenders’ in the squad that will ultimately be trimmed down to form the 2012 AFL All Australian team.
It is the third year in a row that the Lions haven’t featured in the official Team of the Year.
While it was probably optimistic to suggest that any Lions should be named in the final All Australian team, defenders Joel Patfull and Matt Maguire were being touted as the Club’s best hopes of at least being selected in the squad.
But not surprisingly, the squad is made up predominantly of players from the teams that will be participating in the AFL Finals Series, with Adelaide and Geelong leading the with five members each.
24 members of the squad have never previously been named as All Australian, while Fremantle Captain Matthew Pavlich - with six previous All Australian selections - is the most decorated player in the squad.
The final team will be revealed at an event in Melbourne on Monday 17 September.
The All Australian Selection panel consists of Andrew Demetriou (chairman), Adrian Anderson, Kevin Bartlett, Luke Darcy, Danny Frawley, Gerard Healy, Glen Jakovich and Mark Ricciuto.
The squad members named are in order of club representation are as follows:
Adelaide Crows
Patrick Dangerfield
Sam Jacobs
Brent Reilly
Scott Thompson
Taylor Walker
Brisbane Lions
Nil
Carlton
Eddie Betts
Collingwood
Dayne Beams
Scott Pendlebury
Dane Swan
Essendon
Jobe Watson
Fremantle
Luke McPharlin
Matthew Pavlich
Geelong
Corey Enright
Tom Hawkins
Tom Lonergan
Joel Selwood
Harry Taylor
Gold Coast
Gary Ablett
Greater Western Sydney
Nil
Hawthorn
Grant Birchall
Lance Franklin
Sam Mitchell
Cyril Rioli
Melbourne
Nil
North Melbourne
Drew Petrie
Andrew Swallow
Port Adelaide
Nil
Richmond
Trent Cotchin
Brett Deledio
Ivan Maric
Jack Riewoldt
St Kilda
Sean Dempster
Lenny Hayes
Stephen Milne
Nick Riewoldt
Sydney
Kieren Jack
Lewis Jetta
Josh Kennedy
Ted Richards
West Coast
Dean Cox
Darren Glass
Nic Naitanui
Beau Waters
Western Bulldogs
Nil
No Lions in Team of the Year
The Brisbane Lions were one of five clubs not featured in the 40-man AFL All Australian squad announced on Tuesday
