Despite the prestige of the All-Australian side, we cannot forget some of the most shocking selections and biggest snubs of the last fifteen years.
This looks back at which players and omissions raised the most eyebrows.
Matt Priddis
Matt Priddis led the league in total disposals during the 2014 home and away season, averaging 28 touches to go along with seven tackles.
MORE: AFL All-Australian 44-player squad 2025: The players selected from your club
But the most shocking part of all was winning the Brownlow Medal - but still the selectors were unable to find a spot for him in the All-Australian side.
Nic Naitanui
Nic Naitanui was a superstar, there is no doubt about it.
Still, his 2020 All-Australian selection where he only played 16 games certainly raised a few eyebrows.
He averaged eleven touches, his second-worst return aside from his rookie year.
He finished outside the top two in hit-outs and only took a staggering 11 marks for the entire season - averaging out to less than one mark per game.
Naitanui was still elected the starting ruckman over Max Gawn, who was named on the bench.
Darcy Byrne-Jones
Darcy Byrne-Jones was part of a team that finished first and he won Port Adelaide Best and Fairest this season. DBJ is extremely loved at Alberton, but his selection in the 2020 All Australian side still looks surprising.
He averaged 16 touches (albeit COVID affected) and has never been seen as an elite kick in a position now dominated by high-possession, silky-smooth half-backs like Bailey Dale, Jack Sinclair, and Lachie Whitfield.
Sam Docherty
The 2022 season was one of the best we have ever seen from Carlton warrior Sam Docherty.
Docherty finished runner-up in Carlton’s Best and Fairest, behind only Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps and he averaged a career-high twenty-eight touches that season.
Despite this, Docherty did not even make the initial 44-man squad.
Five of his Carlton teammates did, while fellow half-back Adam Saad made the final team.