Should two specialist wingmen make the 2024 All-Aus team? Champion Data analyst weighs in

Should the All-Australian team always have two specialist wingmen named in the side?

That was the debate had on SEN Sportsday between Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy, Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes and Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne.

Cornes, an All-Australian selector, is of the opinion that only Errol Gulden has enjoyed a season on the wing worthy of the honour, and he’d pick a star midfielder in the other slot due to a lack of other wing standouts.

JOHNSON AND CORNES DISCUSS THE BIGGEST DILEMMA FACING ALL-AUSTRALIAN SELECTORS THIS SEASON.

Hoyne says he’d pick both Gulden and Hawthorn’s Massimo D’Ambrosio in the team as he feels that duo has been a standout.

He does understand why there’s a genuine debate over that position given that D’Ambrosio’s year hasn’t been as strong as Josh Daicos’ in 2023, who was named an All-Australian winger alongside Gulden.

Healy: “If you had to pick your two best wingmen (for All-Australian), who are they?”

Hoyne: “Errol Gulden and Massimo D’Ambrosio.”

Cornes: “Gerard and I have just been having a bit of back and forth on this … and what do you do with All-Australian when you’ve got so many great midfielders who could play wing?

“There’s no doubt they could play wing, but they’re not playing wing.

“Where do you sit on the debate of how that team should be selected and leaving out a gun A-grade midfielder who has had an enormous season for a specialist wingman?”

Hoyne: “We’ve had this discussion that you've had to have had an All-Australian type of season to be selected in the All-Australian team, which is absolutely fair enough.

“But I'm still of the belief that you're picking the All-Australian team purely off position, and you're picking the two best wingmen of that season who have played wing that year.”

Healy: “Only if they've had an All-Australian year?”

Hoyne: “Yeah, but they (Gulden and D'Ambrosio) have had an All-Australian year in comparison to all wingers across the competition.”

Healy: “It's so difficult for a wingman to compete with a midfielder (in terms of stats).”

Hoyne: “You'll always have two wingers that have had two All-Australian type seasons for that particular year.

“There's no conversation around Errol, his season this year is just an All-Australian type of season.

“Fair enough that there is a bit of a conversation to be had in regards to that second winger (at the All-Aus meetings) because D’Ambrosio’s season has been really good but it's not as dominant a winger season as Hugh McGluggage has had in previous years or a Steele Sidebottom or Josh Daicos.

“I'm still going with the two best wingers from this year. But I can understand the conversation around that position.”

In 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 no specialist wingers were named in the team with midfielders instead taking those slots.

2023 (Gulden and Daicos) and 2018 (Andrew Gaff and Steele Sidebottom) are the last genuine wingmen to be named All-Australians.