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Senior Writer- Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer. He has been with ESPN since 2013, covering everything from AFL to Formula One, basketball to boxing, and tennis, both in Australia and around the world.
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Assistant Editor- Matt Walsh is a Melbourne-based sports journalist who willingly travels far and wide to watch any sport. Not only has he seen NFL in Dallas, football in London, baseball in Arlington and hockey in Boston, he's covered F1, AFL, Wimbledon and the Australian Open for a number of media outlets.
With the home-and-away season now in the books for another year, it means two things are almost upon us: finals, and of course, the silly season of trades, free agency and delistings.
To help scratch that football itch during the bye week ahead of the first week of finals, we have devised two current-day teams; one made up of one-club players and another of multi-club players.
The sides have been picked from their form this season -- 2018's best of the best.
The teams are elite and the match-ups are tantalising. So, which one wins? Vote below!
One-club players
B: Dane Rampe, Alex Rance, Nick Vlastuin
HB: Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy McGovern, James Sicily
R: Max Gawn, Nat Fyfe, Patrick Cripps
C: Josh Kelly, Trent Cotchin, Isaac Smith
HF: Luke Breust, Jeremy Cameron, Dustin Martin
F: Robbie Gray, Ben Brown, Jack Riewoldt
I/C: Joel Selwood, Jack Darling, Scott Pendlebury, Clayton Oliver
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
One thing that is immediately clear about the best-22 of one-club players is that it is young. Clearly, with the advent of free agency, one-club players are generally younger than their multi-club counterparts, though there are exceptions to the rule; Cotchin, Selwood, Gray and Pendlebury have all been wonderful servants to their respective teams for the better part of a decade.
Featuring an imposing centre bounce quartet, running wingers and half backs as well as a star-studded forward line, this team would be almost impossible to beat on its day.
Multi-club players
B: Zach Tuohy, Phil Davis, Jeremy Howe
HB: Luke Hodge, Jake Carlisle, Paul Seedsman
R: Jarrod Witts, Tom Mitchell, Patrick Dangerfield
C: Adam Treloar, Shaun Higgins, Will Hoskin-Elliott
HF: Dayne Beams, Lance Franklin, Josh Caddy
F: Gary Ablett, Josh Kennedy, Eddie Betts
I/C: Josh Kennedy, Callan Ward, Devon Smith, Elliott Yeo
Coach: John Worsfold
Experience is the key word you associate with this team and it's little wonder considering if you've been in the AFL system long enough to move clubs, you're likely going to be older than your one-club equivalents.
Led by veterans such as Hodge, Franklin, Kennedy and Dangerfield, this team would be a nightmare to match-up on, while the depth on the bench is impressive to say the least. And while many on this side are older, there are enough younger types to ensure this squad wouldn't run out of puff too early.
So how do they match up against each other?
That's enough about the teams, we all know what matters is the match-ups. For the purpose of this, the multi-club players have been shown in bold.
B: Dane Rampe, Alex Rance, Nick Vlastuin
F: Gary Ablett, Josh J. Kennedy, Eddie Betts
HB: Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy McGovern, James Sicily
HF: Dayne Beams, Lance Franklin, Josh Caddy
C: Josh Kelly, Trent Cotchin, Isaac Smith
C: Adam Treloar, Shaun Higgins, Will Hoskin-Elliott
R: Max Gawn, Nat Fyfe, Patrick Cripps
R: Jarrod Witts, Tom Mitchell, Patrick Dangerfield
HF: Luke Breust, Jeremy Cameron, Dustin Martin
HB: Luke Hodge, Jake Carlisle, Paul Seedsman
F: Robbie Gray, Ben Brown, Jack Riewoldt
B: Zach Tuohy, Phil Davis, Jeremy Howe
I/C: Joel Selwood, Jack Darling, Clayton Oliver, Scott Pendlebury
I/C: Josh P. Kennedy, Callan Ward, Devon Smith, Elliott Yeo
The verdict
Matt's tip: One-club players. It's too hard to go past the one-clubbers looking at that imposing forward line. Both teams have a class midfield so supply won't be the issue, but I'll back a forward line featuring Riewoldt, Brown, Breust and Gray.
Jake's tip: Multi-club players. There's no doubt the one-club players have more depth but the class and mix of Dangerfield, Mitchell, Higgins and Treloar in the multi-club's midfield is scary. If there's ever a 50-50, I'll take the team that has Franklin.
Agree? Disagree? Have your say below.