TRAILBLAZING premiership player Abbey Holmes has joined the AFL All-Australian selection panel ahead of the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Holmes replaces former Geelong Cats premiership captain Cameron Ling, who is stepping down after 11 years on the panel.
The AFL All-Australian committee selects the AFL All-Australian squad and team, the 2024 Virgin Mark of the Year, the 2024 NAB AFL Goal of the Year, and the Ron Evans medal for the 2024 AFL Rising Star Award.
Holmes joins Andrew Dillon (Chair), Eddie Betts, Jude Bolton, Nathan Buckley, Kane Cornes, Glen Jakovich, Matthew Pavlich, Laura Kane and Josh Mahoney on the All-Australian panel.
Mahoney, who played 97 AFL games including the 2004 AFL Premiership, joins the panel as part of his role as AFL General Manager Football Operations.
AFL Talent Ambassador and Life Member Kevin Sheehan is also a selector for the AFL Rising Star Award.
Holmes was drafted to the Adelaide Crows in 2017, playing each game in the inaugural NAB AFLW season and went on to win the Grand Final.
Before playing in the AFLW, Holmes played for the Waratah Football Club in the NTFL and became the league's first woman to kick more than 100 goals in a season.
Following her playing career, Holmes has become a highly respected football commentator with the Seven Network.
AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dillon congratulated Holmes on her appointment and thanked Ling for his service.
"Abbey has enjoyed a decorated playing career and is now in her ninth season as an expert commentator and boundary rider with Channel Seven. She analyses the game up close on a weekly basis," Mr. Dillon said.
"We are delighted to have someone with her level of experience on the panel and her contributions will be incredibly valuable in selecting the best-performed players of the 2024 season.
"On behalf of the AFL, I would like to thank Cameron Ling for his dedication and service as a selector over the past 11 seasons."
2024 AFL Weekly Rising Star panel
The AFL has also confirmed the weekly Rising Star selection panel for the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Kevin Sheehan (Chair), Nathan Buckley, Jude Bolton, Kane Cornes, Ned Guy, Abbey Holmes and Joel Selwood will nominate one player for the Rising Star Award each round.
Selwood, the 2007 Ron Evans Medal winner, joined the AFL's Football Operations department in 2024.
At the conclusion of the home and away season, the AFL All Australian panel will vote on their five best-performed eligible nominees based on their performance during the season.
2024 AFL Rising Star selection criteria:
- The player must be under 21 years of age by January 1, 2024 and played 10 or fewer games before the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
- In general, the player judged to have played the best individual game of the round is to be the basis of the weekly nomination.
- When several players are judged to have played at a reasonably similar level, previous rounds and year to date performances are then taken into account.
- The priority is to have the best-performed 25 players nominated by the end of the season for consideration for the overall award. Therefore, in later rounds, year-to-date performances will be allocated increasing weight relative to performances in the round
