GEELONG champion Joel Selwood has been named captain of the NAB AFL Academy '20 in 20' all-star side to mark two decades of the prestigious program.
The three-time Cats premiership player, who graduated from the academy in 2006, beat a strong field of other captaincy candidates in the final team.
Selwood edged out Hawthorn's three-time premiership captain Luke Hodge, West Coast premiership skipper and Carlton leader Chris Judd, Sydney Swans premiership co-captain Jarrad McVeigh and his former Cats teammate Cameron Ling – all members of the 20-man line-up.
Former and present head coaches of the national academy gathered in Melbourne last month to select the line-up, named to celebrate the 20th intake of the program.
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan headed the selection panel, which had to sift through a squad of 100 graduates to pick the final team.
"It was just terrific because we all had two views. One was a very accurate recall of our time involved in the academy, and the coaches' times involved in the program and their interpretation of the young guys they had in their midst," Sheehan told AFL.com.au.
"You could see how passionate they were about recalling some of those moments.
"And then to see them debate like a normal match committee, it reminded me of the All-Australian selectors at AFL level and Victorian state of origin selectors.
"They had to give very hard and clear views about great players and separate them, and that's very, very hard to do. Then they had to come to a decision at the finish."
The final team is made up of players from a range of eras, including veterans Joel Corey and Grant Birchall in defence, and younger key position backmen Ben Reid and Michael Hurley.
The midfield group took up the least amount of time for selectors, with Selwood, Judd, Ling, Patrick Dangerfield and Shaun Burgoyne making up the on-ballers and Nic Naitanui chosen as the ruckman.
"We had a good hour-and-a-half debating the team and some decisions were instantaneous. Some names were put up and it was just a nod of the head and they were straight through," Sheehan said.
"For half of the group there was quite some discussion and then when we got to the end there was a dozen or more fighting for the last two or three spots. That's when we're splitting hairs because there are some champions of the game who haven't made it into 20."
Hawthorn's dominance in recent years has been reflected with Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead and former Hawk-now-Sydney Swan Lance Franklin making up half the forward group.
Younger stars Luke Parker and Chad Wingard and West Coast Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy complete the forward group, with Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson and North Melbourne's Daniel Wells on the interchange.
There was plenty of debate for the final two positions, with Sheehan admitting the '20 in 20' concept had seen many stars miss out.
"How do you separate guys who have played 300 games and been ornaments of the game with other leaders and players who have been greats for their clubs?" he said.
"It's very subjective but that's the nature of all these different representative sides.
"The feedback from all of the coaches involved was that they loved the process in giving their point of view and ultimately being part of the celebration of 20 years of the academy."
Separately, AFL.com.au readers were asked to nominate a captain of the 'best of' Academy team, with 41 per cent of the more than 13,000 who voted going with Hodge. Judd received 22 per cent of the vote, while Selwood got the nod from 12 per cent.
NAB AFL ACADEMY 20 in 20 TEAM
DEFENDERS: Joel Corey (Geel), Ben Reid (Coll), Luke Hodge (Haw), Grant Birchall (Haw), Michael Hurley (Ess), Jarrad McVeigh (Syd)
MIDFIELDERS: Chris Judd (WC/Carl), Patrick Dangerfield (Adel/Geel), Shaun Burgoyne (PA/Haw), Joel Selwood (captain, Geel), Cameron Ling (Geel), Nic Naitanui (WC)
FORWARDS: Cyril Rioli (Haw), Lance Franklin (Haw/Syd), Chad Wingard (PA), Luke Parker (Syd), Josh Kennedy (Carl/WC), Jarryd Roughead (Haw)
I/C: Scott Thompson (Melb/Adel), Daniel Wells (NM)
