The Bigpond site has four Tigers in their AA side so far - Rance, Lids, Jack and Cotch.
Mid-season All Australians
By Adam Jones, Michael Rogers and Ben Hocking
Source: BigPond Sport
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
With half the season now done and dusted, it's time to look at the players who have shaped the year to date.
Given the evenness of the competition it's not surprising that no one team dominates selection. Richmond leads the way with four players followed by West Coast and Adelaide with three apiece.
Carlton, Fremantle, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Brisbane, Port Adelaide and GWS are not represented in the final 22, though a Blue and a couple of Dockers came close to getting a guernsey.
ALL AUSTRALIAN TEAM
B: Alex Rance, Darren Glass, Beau Waters
HB: Brett Deledio, Brian Lake, Brendon Goddard
C: Jobe Watson (c), Brent Stanton, Patrick Dangerfield
HF: Steve Johnson, Lance Franklin, Tom Hawkins
F: Lewis Jetta, Jack Riewoldt, Steele Sidebottom
Foll: Dean Cox, Scott Pendlebury, Scott Thompson
I/C: Gary Ablett (vc), Ben Rutten, Josh Kennedy, Trent Cotchin
Alex Rance (Richmond)
Rance could have been All Australian in 2011 and if his form this year holds he will almost certainly earn his first jumper. After a forgettable to start to his career the 22-year-old is now shutting down the likes of Travis Cloke, Lance Franklin and Nick Riewoldt, averaging 20 disposals a game and linking up nicely in the Tigers backline.
Brett Deledio (Richmond)
Ross Lyon sent Ryan Crowley to shut down Deledio ahead of Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin at the weekend, which gives a good indication of just how damaging 'Lids' has become. Admittedly more of a midfielder than a defender (he leads the comp in inside-50s), Deledio is hitting career-best form as the Tigers move up the ladder.
Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Started the season slowly by his own standards and looked to be terribly out of form, but has come good just in time to make the AA halfway team. He is now averaging 3.1 goals per game, which is just below the 3.5 goals per game he averaged in his Coleman Medal winning year in 2010.
Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
Squeezes onto the interchange bench ahead of some big names due to his stellar form in blockbusters against Hawthorn and St Kilda. Sits inside the top 10 in disposals and inside-50s and has been galvanised by winning his first club best-and-fairest at the end of 2011.
Honourable mentions: Aaron Sandilands (Fre), Matthew Boyd (WB), Lenny Hayes (STK), Mitch Robinson (Carl), Joel Selwood (Geel), Scott Selwood (WCE), Michael Johnson (Fre), Taylor Walker (Adel), Ivan Maric (Rich)
