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Sport Nation
The All-Australian captaincy should not be a novelty award
Mark Duffield • September 1st, 2025 8:00 pm
The All-Australian team was named on Thursday night, and it is now Monday morning, so I know I am late on this, but I reckon this is worth commenting on.
I don’t want to come across as someone who bags the AFL at every turn – they have a tough job running the competition and they get things right and they get things wrong – no one is perfect, but I reckon you are more chance of being forgiven for what you get wrong if you get the simple things right.
Jeremy Cameron was named All-Australian captain on Thursday – you know you have reason for concern about a decision when the bloke you name looks more shocked than honoured and steps onto the stage and tells the host that quote – “he has never captained a bloody thing in his life”.
The AFL appears to have decided that the All-Australian captaincy should be a ceremonial thing – they once gave the honour to Lance Franklin, and he hadn’t captained much in his life either.
But I am not sure the ceremonial nature of the All-Australian captaincy has ever looked more wrong than it did on Thursday.
This is no disrespect to Cameron, who is an outstanding player and may yet become the first player since Franklin in 2008 to kick 100 goals in an AFL season.
But just for a minute, consider the All-Australian captains the AFL and its AA selectors had on offer as alternatives this year.
1 - I give you Adelaide’s captain, Jordan Dawson. He has been one of the standout players of the season and one of the standout leaders of the season. He has been the on-field leader of a team that has jumped from 15th to first at the end of the home and away rounds. He has built a reputation as a player who comes up big at big moments in games as captain.
2 - I give you Max Gawn, captain of Melbourne. He just clinched his eighth All-Australian jacket. He is the undisputed king of rucks in the AFL, and when his team crumbled around him he, the captain, stood tall and held them together, often being the public face of the club.
3 - Harris Andrews, captain of the reigning premier Brisbane, who are again close to flag favourites after this home and away season. He controls games from a key defensive post to the point where opposition teams put a forward on him not to kick goals but to try to limit his impact. He is the coolest of the AFL’s cool interceptors.
4 - Noah Anderson, the captain of the Gold Coast Suns. He has led a team that has never played finals before, but now will. Remember the goal coming out of the centre to win the game against Collingwood? That’s a captain being a captain.
5 - Finally, the Bont – the Rolls-Royce of all footballers and many people’s choice as the best player in the game. His sixth All-Australian gong. He is still the bloke the Doggies look to to lift when games go in the line. Go back a week and watch his last quarter against Fremantle.
The All-Australian captaincy should not be a novelty award.
It should be a title that reflects who would lead the team in the hypothetical circumstance where we were actually fronting up to an international opponent.
When there are five captains in the All-Australian team who are all top shelf, one of them gets to be the All-Australian captain. It's that simple.
So get it right. And while we are at it a 28-year-old doesn’t get to win the title of best young player in the game like Shaun Mannagh did on Thursday.
