AFL's Dream Team and Vic squads named - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

AFL's Dream Team and Vic squads named

By Daniel Brettig 15/04/2008 04:38:35 PM Comments (0)

It is a dream of a team that would take years of nightmares to assemble in the AFL.

As Dream Team coach Mark Williams quipped, a club would need to finish bottom for close to two decades in a row to stack up the array of talent he will have at his disposal against Victoria at the MCG on May 10.

"Imagine, looking at those players if it was a draft we had and we selected those players, it's like we came bottom about 17 years in a row," Williams said while announcing his initial 40-man squad for the AFL's 150th anniversary fixture.

Williams has had an unhappy start to 2008 as Port Adelaide coach, but he provided ample enthusiasm on Tuesday about a concept that will allow him the opportunity, for instance, to take control of Hawthorn's indigenous goal magician Lance Franklin.

"Yeah he's an exciting player, having 10 Aboriginals in that group is just brilliant, with the history of the sport and the involvement and the development of Aboriginals in the game," he said.

"I read where one or two clubs in the past have been racist in regard to their selections, you can see right now there's no degree of that in our selection and we're really delighted to have Lance and any of the other indigenous players, I don't care where they come from, really."

At the other end of the scale is Adelaide's worthy but not so decorated veteran Tyson Edwards.

Having never made the all-Australian team despite close to a decade of midfield excellence, Edwards has told Williams of his tremendous desire to run out for the Dream Team.

Adelaide are the most represented club in the squad with seven players, while from the Power Williams chose four, Chad and Kane Cornes alongside Shaun and Peter Burgoyne.

"Tyson was extremely excited about the fact of having an opportunity, if he gets in I'm not sure, but to be as old as he is and in the game as long as he has been and respected as long as he has, to make the squad is brilliant for him," Williams said.

"You can talk about Adelaide people getting overused if you like but I'm not sure who you would say shouldn't be in the squad."

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