I've got 12 first-timers, three ex-rookies and a player who spent the first five weeks of the season under a club suspension in my 2007 All-Australian team.
There are also four players who hadn't reached 30 AFL games before the start of the season, a fifth-round draft pick, five father/son picks and just five "survivors" from the official 2006 All-Australian side.
Geelong (four), West Coast (three) and Hawthorn (three) dominate the side, while Collingwood and the Kangaroos won two spots each. But I couldn't find room for a player from Carlton, Melbourne or St Kilda.
I've tried to name them in position as much as possible. The best player in that area for the year was my starting criteria, even allowing for the fact that midfielders play anywhere from forward pocket to back pocket these days.
It's why I have gone with a most contentious selection in Geelong half-forward Steve Johnson. There has been no better half-forward this year. His career was on the rocks when he was arrested for being drunk in a public place at Wangaratta pub on Christmas Eve. But, in what is a fantastic endorsement of the Geelong leadership group's decision to hit him with a stiff suspension, he hasn't put a foot wrong since. And since he returned to the senior side in round six the Cats haven't lost.
Johnson is fast becoming the second-most important player at Geelong behind Gary Ablett.
Not only has his exhilarating form at half-forward allowed Mark Thompson to play Ablett and Paul Chapman in the midfield but he finds the ball in dangerous spots and uses it well. His ability to make things happen inside forward 50 makes Johnson a valuable weapon.
Campbell Brown, at 177 centimetres, is in line to become probably the shortest tall defender ever to win a spot in an All-Australian side. But he gets my vote.
He's been fighting out of his division for much of the year in something akin to Anthony Mundine taking on Muhammad Ali — I suspect he's wishing he didn't talk quite as much as Mundine last week — but I can't remember him being beaten. He's had some mighty tough match-ups, Matthew Pavlich, Scott Lucas and Nick Riewoldt among them, and his ability to play on opponents of different sizes and types is remarkable.
The four young and inexperienced players are Heath Shaw, Nathan Foley, Hamish McIntosh and Nick Malceski. Going into the season they had 95 games between them.
Shaw's leadership and direction in the absence of a lot of experienced players at Collingwood has been phenomenal. He finds the ball, uses it well and when he's up and going, the Pies look good.
Foley gets in on the strength of his freakish ball-winning ability. He's lightning fast and is the league's No. 1 stoppage player and contested possession winner.
Cox wins the starting ruck spot from McIntosh. It was only Cox's ability to virtually play as an extra ball-winning midfielder that gets him the nod.
Malceski, the fifth-round draftee, has added something to the Swans' back six with his run, carry and use of the ball.
Chad Cornes had to be in the side somewhere. He can play anywhere so I slotted him on the wing to partner first-timer Lockyer, who is eight years on from his debut and three years on from an 18-month injury stretch. Another great story.
It'll surprise many to learn that Jonathan Brown has never won All-Australian selection. And it's only been his extraordinary past six weeks which got him over the line this year.
Lance Franklin, Cam Mooney and Travis Cloke have had more consistent years but nowhere near the brilliance of Brown in patches. And with him set to continue the hot form we have seen, a Brownlow might not be out of the mix either.
Brown at full-forward behind Matthew Pavlich at centre half-forward pushes Brad Johnson into the pocket but I'm sticking with five-time All-Australian Johnson as captain for the second year in a row.
There are two more 30-somethings down back in Andrew McLeod and Dustin Fletcher who, with Johnson, push the average age to 24.7.
Johnson, Pavlich, McLeod, Fletcher and Chris Judd are the only five back from last year's All-Australian team. And with McLeod set to earn his fifth All-Australian jumper it must reignite the nightmares among Fremantle officials who traded him to Adelaide in 1994 for Chris Groom.
Fletcher, who has played much of the year as a loose man, gets the nod at centre half-back, not so much for his defensive efforts but his attacking prowess. His ability to read the game allows him to set things up with quality possessions and give Essendon terrific direction on the way out.
His ability to bang the ball over the zone on the kick-ins is also fantastic, and he carries the father/son torch with Shaw, J Brown, Matthew Scarlett and Ablett.
I also hadn't realised Daniel Kerr has never won All-Australian. His wait is over. And I've got him in the 18 ahead of Judd, who is clearly playing hurt but was so good in the first half of the season he couldn't miss out.
Kerr, Shaw, the Brown boys, Malceski, Lockyer, Sam Mitchell, Johnson, Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, McIntosh and Foley are the 12 newcomers.
Ablett, a genuine superstar, and Bartel were two members of the potent Geelong midfield who had to win a spot. Joel Corey and Cameron Ling were desperately unlucky to miss out.
Others? Jed Adcock might have got the nod had he not switched from defence to midfield mid-season. Dale Thomas has been so good he's almost the barometer for the Pies. And Lance Franklin caps off a young trio whose time will come.
At the other end of the scale, Simon Black and Scott West continue to win the ball in freakish numbers and wouldn't be out of place in any All-Australian team.
