HYPOTHETICAL AUSTRALIAN REP SIDE..

[GWW]

One of the most annoying things about following our great sport (which is so often pointed out by our rugby and soccer friends) is that we dont have an "international" side to our game (apart from that nonsense against the Irish!!).

So heres the premise of this thread (hypotethical of course!!) - the AFL announces that an Australian side will be picked to play against New Zealand in a representative game during the mid season AFL "break". The AFL then announces a squad. But i'm not going to pick a squad, i'm going to pick a team as a squad doesn't take into account the dynamics of actually choosing a team, taking into account who plays where, team balance etc. The premise is that every player is available (ie not injured enough not to be considered for selection, and not suspended by tribunal). This is of course extremely unlikely, but is required for the purpose of this thread.

Only those suffering a season ending injury such as Darcy are unavailable for selection.

My team:

FF G Ablett, Lloyd, Tredrea

HF Power, J Brown, Riewoldt

C Goodwin, Dal Santo, S Black

HB Hodge, C Cornes, Ricciuto

FB Goodes, Scarlett, C Johnson


1st Ruck
Cox
Judd
Cousins

INT McLeod, Everitt, N Brown, C Fletcher

EMERG J White, Ball

In saying fully fit i mean that a player's injury has healed (and they have no other niggling injuries enough for them to be ruled out), i dont mean players like Voss, Robert Harvey, Buckley, Hird or Koutifides retain their fitness of 5 years ago. If the side was selected 2 or 3 years ago, all would be in the team, but the ravages of time mean that they would probably no longer be the best option.

Selecting this team is an incredibly difficult exercise, and its impossible to pick a "perfect" team as there as so many variables to consider. I've gone for a combination of youth and experience, also tried to put a great deal of flexibility into the team. I've gone for S Black and Power on the premise that they would lift whilst playing in a "champion" team. Power would be the second rover. Ablett chosen as the crumber over N Brown and B Johnson (and others) mainly due to youth being on his side. Goodes chosen in side as he offers great flexibility and can play just about everywhere on the ground. The biggest question mark i have over the team is who would play centre, i've gone for Dal Santo, although i'm thinking maybe Chad Fletcher (and others) would have an equal claim to the position. Wirrpunda considered for back pocket position but narrowly missed out to those selected.

I've probably missed some players out, but thats always the case when these types of teams are chosen.

Obviously New Zealand would probably struggle to get into their forward line, but i'm sure we'd all watch the game (well at least the first 5 mins anyway) to see all the country's great players playing together in the one team.

What are other people's thoughts?