Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett is a lock for All Australian selection. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: George Salpigtidis / HeraldSun
THIS time 12 months ago Essendon was a pillar of virtue, Andrew Walker was an injury-prone forward, and Dane Swan was laughing off calls for his head.
Sam Mitchell was a centre square master technician and Chad Wingard ... well, no one bar Port Adelaide fanatics had even heard of him.
Football changes in the time it takes to click your fingers -- ask Essendon -- but nowhere has this been more evident than the All-Australian team.
Once it was the domain of the superstars, and only them.
Ask eight-time All-Australians Robert Harvey and Mark Ricciuto, or seven-timers Craig Bradley, Nathan Buckley, Paul Roos or Wayne Carey.
Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: PerthNow
The selectors didn't care which position they selected Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich in, as long as he got in -- six times.
Choose your own All-Australian side before tonight's announcement, if only as an exercise in how difficult it is to choose between recent form and reputation.
But by any measure, only two of last year's starting All-Australians will find spots in this year's team.
Gary Ablett, my All-Australian captain, and Paddy Dangerfield, one of last year's half forwards, will join 2012 interchange members Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury somewhere in tonight's 2013 version.
Lance Franklin handballs during Hawthorn's media session at Waverley Park yesterday. He will return to action on Friday week after suspension. Source: Getty Images
Lance Franklin (58 goals but just a good solid year) might just squeeze in, while Sydney midfielder Josh Kennedy is a longer shot to reclaim his 2012 bench position.
But among that classy quartet there are stories of dramatic form slumps, Father Time finally knocking, and above all else, injury ravaging 2013 stars.
Ask St Kilda duo Sean Dempster and Stephen Milne, or West Coast ruck duo Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox, or last year's All-Australian forward Tom Hawkins.
None of them are even in the 40-man squad, let alone contenders for this side.
And the best part?
As much as we will welcome back last year's alumni Dayne Beams, Grant Birchall, Trent Cotchin and Cyril Rioli in coming years, the 2013 side hasn't missed a beat.
Joel Selwood celebrates his last-quarter goal. Picture: Michael Klein Source: HeraldSun
There are locks: Scott Thompson at full back, the centre line of Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Ryan Griffen, and Jarryd Roughead as the forward/ruck swingman.
But there are also conundrums like the half-back line which says everything about the changing face of the game, as elite defenders vie for All-Australian nods with midfielders in revamped roles.
Will trusty half-backs like Geelong pair Joel Corey and Andrew Mackie survive the assault from Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell, or even reprogrammed Carlton defender Walker.
Then there are second-year kids like Wingard and Jeremy Cameron who you just want to select to reward them for their extraordinary composure at such an early age.
Surely Cameron should get in given what he achieved, kicking 62 goals in a team which won a solitary game.
GWS Giants' Jeremy Cameron has been appointed an AFL Junior Football Ambassador for NSW and the ACT. Source: News Limited
When the likes of Michael Voss, Buckley, James Hird, Harvey, Andrew McLeod and Anthony Koutoufides retired in quick succession we wondered if the talent was there to replace them.
You sometimes hear the refrain that there isn't enough talent to sustain 18 teams; that the stars of the game don't shine as bright as they did in yesteryear.
The side chosen tonight, radically different to the 2012 version and yet still just as exciting, will surely smack those assertions out of the ballpark.
All-Australian Team 2012
B: Sean Dempster (StK), Luke McPharlin (Frem), Darren Glass (WCE)(captain)
HB: Beau Waters (WCE), Ted Richards (Syd), Grant Birchall (Haw)
C: Trent Cotchin (Rich), Jobe Watson (Ess), Dayne Beams (Coll)
HF: Patrick Dangerfield (Adel), Lance Franklin (Haw), Cyril Rioli (Haw)
F: Stephen Milne (StK), Tom Hawkins (Geel), Dean Cox (WCE)
Foll: Nic Naitanui (WCE), Scott Thompson (Adel), Gary Ablett (GC)(vice-captain)
I/C: Brett Deledio (Rich), Josh Kennedy (Syd), Scott Pendlebury (Coll), Dane Swan (Coll)
Jon Ralph's 2013 All-Australian team
B: Andrew Walker (Carl), Scott Thompson (North), Michael Johnson (Freo)
HB: Jarrad McVeigh (Syd), Harry Taylor (Geel), Sam Mitchell (Haw)
C: Patrick Dangerfield (Adel), Joel Selwood (Geel, vice-captain), Ryan Griffen (WB)
HF: Dane Swan (Coll), Jarryd Roughead (Hawth), Steven Motlop (Geel)
F: Chad Wingard (Port), Jeremy Cameron (GWS), Lindsay Thomas (North)
Foll: Will Minson (WB), Gary Ablett (GC, captain), Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
Inter: Kieren Jack (Syd), Nathan Fyfe (Freo), Luke Hodge (Haw), Travis Cloke (Coll)
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