AFL 2018: All Australian squad named, Gary Ablett, Scott Selwood snubbed

RICHMOND could have up to eight stars in the 2018 All Australian team after the AFL announced its 2018 All Australian squad on Monday morning.

Josh Caddy, Shane Edwards, Dylan Grimes and Kane Lambert have all been nominated for the first time, featuring alongside star teammates Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt.

The Gold Coast Suns and St Kilda were the only teams that failed to have a single player good enough to crack the 40-man squad.

Twenty-two players are hoping to make the All Australian team for the first time, including Harris Andrews, Jordan de Goey, Brodie Grundy, Devon Smith, Lachie Neale, Lachie Whitfield, Jack Gunston, Clayton Oliver, Ben Brown, Shaun Higgins, Jake Lloyd and Shannon Hurn.

Sydney Swans superstar Lance Franklin made the 40-man cutoff for a record 11th time.

But there were a host of big-name omissions, including Geelong superstars Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood, and standout Hawthorn defender Ben Stratton.

But perhaps the most hard done by are Dyson Heppell (Essendon), Nat Fyfe (Fremantle), Stephen Coniglio (GWS) and Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne), who all sit inside the top 20 in the coach-voted AFLCA champion player of the year and thus have strong claims to be considered among the best 40 players in the competition.

The 2018 All Australian squad selection committee was made up of AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, Kevin Bartlett, Luke Darcy, Danny Frawley, Steve Hocking, Glen Jakovich, Chris Johnson, Cameron Ling, Matthew Richardson and Warren Tredrea.

The final 22-man All Australian team will be announced on Wednesday.

2018 ALL AUSTRALIAN SQUAD

Adelaide: Rory Laird

Brisbane: Harris Andrews, Dayne Beams

Carlton: Patrick Cripps

Collingwood: Jordan De Goey, Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom

Essendon: Devon Smith

Fremantle: Lachie Neale

Geelong: Mark Blicavs, Paddy Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart

Gold Coast: Nil

GWS: Callan Ward, Lachie Whitfield

Hawthorn: Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Tom Mitchell

Melbourne: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver

North Melbourne: Ben Brown, Shaun Higgins

Port Adelaide: Robbie Gray, Tom Jonas

Richmond: Josh Caddy, Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, Dylan Grimes, Kane Lambert, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt

St Kilda: Nil

Sydney: Lance Franklin, Jake Lloyd

West Coast: Andrew Gaff, Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern, Elliot Yeo

Western Bulldogs: Jack Macrae

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