The biggest surprises around the 2026 All-Australian team

The 2026 All-Australian team was named at the AFL Awards night on Tuesday.

Max Gawn achieved a record ninth AA blazer and was named captain while Marcus Bontempelli made the team for an eighth time.

Fremantle had the most players named with five and overall there were nine first-timers in the side.

See the official 2026 AA team below:

B: Wayne Milera (ADE) | Callum Wilkie (STK) | Jarman Impey (HAW)
HB: Lachie Ash (GWS) | Harris Andrews (BRI) | Jordn Clark (FRE)
C: Bailey Smith (GEE) | Marcus Bontempelli (WB) | Oliver Dempsey (GEE)
HF: Shai Bolton (FRE) | Josh Treacy (FRE) | Kysaiah Pickett (MEL)
F: Nick Watson (HAW) | Charlie Curnow (SYD) | Logan Morris (BRI)
FOL: Max Gawn (MEL) | Jordan Dawson (ADE) | Nick Daicos (COL)
I/C: Luke Jackson (FRE) | Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (STK) | Murphy Reid (FRE) | Zac Bailey (BRI) | Zak Butters (PA)

Tim Watson and Garry Lyon assessed the team on SEN Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

They spoke of the players who were most unlucky to miss out.

“Ed Richards would be the one that I might think would be unlucky,” Watson said.

“Somebody said he’s the seventh highest rated player in the AFL. He’s one of those guys that people quickly overlook as opposed to digging in and looking at what he does each and every week because Bont is in the same team and maybe Bont overshadows him.”

Lyon believes a gun Lion was quite unlucky while naming a few others who would have been close.

“Will Ashcroft is really stiff,” he said.

“Max Holmes missed out and he might have been on the cusp of playing enough games or not,”

“Zak Butters gets in having been right on the cusp of playing enough games or not. Izak Rankine wouldn’t have been too far away and Patrick Cripps, I think, is a little unlucky as well.”

Watson added: “To my eye I didn’t think Cripps an All-Australian year. He certainly led his club particularly well and he was a great leader, but I don’t know that he had the personal performances that would elevate him.”

Watson and Lyon also discussed the defenders and the forwards and how those two groups would go if they had to play against each other.

Watson: “How do you think the All-Australian backline would go against the forward line?

“I received some feedback last night, that was all.”

Lyon: “Saying what? That the forward line would kick the living suitcases out of them?”

Watson: “That’s what this particular person may have thought, yes.”

Lyon: “So Wayne Milera, Cal Wilkie, Jarman Impey, Lachie Ash, Harris Andrews and Jordan Clark, up against Shai Bolton, Josh Treacy, Kysaiah Pickett, Logan Morris, Charlie Curnow and Nick Watson.

“Oh crumbs, wowee. For Victorian State of Origin lovers, the 2028 forward lone to play in South Australia will have Watson, Treacy, Morris and Curnow. It’s looking pretty good.

“That forward line would beat most backlines. Kozzie, Shai and the Wizard just zipping around Treacy’s feet, around Morris jumping on you and then Charlie finishing it off.

“Wow, how good.”

Watson: “I love the combination of those six players in your front half. That would be hard to shut down.”

Lyon concluded: “It is a very, very good side, it is a huge honour and great recognition.

“There’s always going to be unlucky players and we’re always going to agree to disagree.”