TWENTY-TWO of the finest footballers to have taken an EDFL field during the past decade have made the final cut in the league's official 'Team of the 2010s'.
The project took place over two phases, with the selection panel this week confirming its final line-up, which was chosen from an initial squad of 40 players.
After making seven consecutive grand finals from 2013 to 2019, Aberfeldie was unsurprisingly the best-represented club in the side, accounting for seven of the 22 players that made the final cut.
Aberfeldie also provided the coach for the 'Team of the 2010s', with three-time premiership winner Adam Potter getting the final nod over the likes of Mick McGuane, Anthony Rock and Digby Morrell.
Greenvale is the next best-represented club with five entrants, followed by Keilor with four.
In total, 11 EDFL clubs are represented in the side.
League CEO Craig Armstead, who sat on the selection panel, told essendondfl.com.au it was a difficult, but enjoyable project to be part of.
"With such a big pool of great players to choose from, we knew this wasn't going to be easy," Armstead said.
"Having been an avid follower of the league for the entire decade, it was great for me to go down memory lane and be reminded of some of the great players that have come and gone throughout the 2010s.
"Choosing the 40-man squad back in November forced us to make some very hard decisions on particular players because we knew we couldn't load the squad with too many midfielders, but I was happy with the balance of mids, backs, forwards and rucks in the end.
"The panel did a lot of great work in compiling as much of the available data as possible to make sure we didn't leave any stone unturned and as a result, every decision we made throughout the process was a carefully considered one.
"I'd like to thank Adem Saricaoglu, Adam Russell and Teo Pellizzeri for their time and commitment to this valuable process."
Armstead said factors such as longevity, league and club best-and-fairest awards, Team of the Year recognition, consistency of performance and EDFL Interleague participation were held in particularly high regard when selecting the final side.
"When you look at the final 22, its pleasing to see that 17 of them played Interleague football for the EDFL during the decade," Armstead said.
"We felt that level of commitment to the league was something that should be rewarded in something like this.
"We also have several players whose careers span most, if not all of the decade, which was something else we held in high regard as well.
"No doubt there are many players unlucky not to be named in the squad or the final 22, but those omissions go to show just how much great talent we were lucky to see in the EDFL over the last 10 years."
After the final 22 was selected, the panel then had to appoint a captain, with 2015 Aberfeldie premiership co-captain Josh Cubillo getting the final nod.
"As hard as it was getting the final 22 done, we spent quite some time after that deliberating over who the captain should be," Armstead said.
"We had some great options to choose from but in the end, Cubillo was the prevailing choice among the panel."
Scroll down for details on every player/coach that made the 'EDFL Team of the 2010s', including the full team in position at the bottom of the article.
BACK POCKET - JOSH TOY
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2013-19
Games: 122
Goals: 19
Key Accolades:
5 x Team of the Year entries
3 x EDFL representative games
3 x Premiership player
2 x Club B&Fs
FULL BACK - RYAN ALLAN
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2011-19
Games: 127
Goals: 54
Key Accolades:
4 x Team of the Year entries
3 x Premiership player
2 x EDFL representative games
BACK POCKET - MATTHEW SMITH
Club: Greenvale
Years: 2010-16
Games: 134
Goals: 103
Key Accolades:
4 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Premiership player
1 x Club B&F
1 x EDFL representative game
HALF BACK FLANK - STEPHEN BREWER
Club: Greenvale
Years: 2013-17
Games: 86
Goals: 64
Key Accolades:
4 x EDFL representative games
3 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Club B&Fs
1 x Reynolds Medal Runner-Up
1 x Premiership player
CENTRE HALF BACK - LUKE FOSTER
Club: Pascoe Vale
Years: 2016-19
Games: 63
Goals: 15
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
1 x Reynolds Medal runner-up
1 x Club B&F
HALF BACK FLANK - ADAM IACOBUCCI
Club: Strathmore
Years: 2012-19
Games: 143
Goals: 59
Key Accolades:
6 x Team of the Year entries
5 x Club B&Fs
2 x EDFL representative games
1 x Premiership player
WING - KANE BARBUTO
Club: Keilor
Years: 2011-19
Games: 142
Goals: 115
Key Accolades:
5 x Team of the Year entries
3 x EDFL representative games
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x Premiership player
1 x Premiership captain
1 x Reynolds Medal winner
1 x Reg Rose Medal
CENTRE - LUKE BLACKWELL
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2015-19
Games: 91
Goals: 46
Key Accolades:
4 x Team of the Year entries
3 x Club B&Fs
3 x Premiership player
2 x Reg Rose Medals
1 x Reynolds Medal winner
WING - MARK LYNCH
Club: Essendon Doutta Stars / Aberfeldie
Years: 2011-12, 2014-16
Games: 92
Goals: 58
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Reynolds Medal winner
1 x Club B&F
1 x Premiership player
HALF FORWARD FLANK - TRENT LEE
Club: Taylors Lakes / Maribyrnong Park
Years: 2011-16
Games: 108
Goals: 176
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x EDFL representative games
CENTRE HALF FORWARD - JACOB THOMPSON
Club: Greenvale
Years: 2010-19
Games: 120
Goals: 252
Key Accolades:
2 x Team of the Year entries
1 x Premiership player
HALF FORWARD FLANK - JORDAN DOERING
Club: Strathmore
Years: 2010-13
Games: 61
Goals: 163
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
1 x Club B&F
1 x Premiership player
FORWARD POCKET - PATRICK ROSE
Club: Avondale Heights
Years: 2013-17
Games: 92
Goals: 390
Key Accolades:
4 x Team of the Year entries
3 x EDFL representative games
2 x Leading Goal Kicker Awards
1 x Reynolds Medal runner-up
1 x 100-goal season
FULL FORWARD - DEAN GALEA
Club: Avondale Heights / Keilor
Years: 2014-19
Games: 113
Goals: 403
Key Accolades:
6 x Team of the Year entries
5 x Leading Goal Kicker Awards
4 x EDFL representative games
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x Premiership player
1 x 100-goal season
FORWARD POCKET - KYLE REIMERS
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2014-19
Games: 80
Goals: 255
Key Accolades:
2 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Premiership player
1 x EDFL representative game
RUCK - ANDREW BROWNE
Club: Keilor
Years: 2013-18
Games: 104
Goals: 102
Key Accolades:
4 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x EDFL representative games
1 x Reynolds Medal winner
1 x Reynolds Medal runner-up
1 x Reg Rose Medal
1 x Premiership player
RUCK ROVER - JOSH CUBILLO
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2013-19
Games: 123
Goals: 54
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
3 x Premiership player
1 x Premiership captain
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x EDFL representative games
1 x Reynolds Medal runner-up
ROVER - FORT CARUSO
Club: Northern Saints / Greenvale
Years: 2013-19
Games: 115
Goals: 156
Key Accolades:
5 x Team of the Year entries
4 x Club B&Fs
4 x EDFL representative games
1 x Hutchison Medal winner
1 x Premiership player
INTERCHANGE - NAT CARUSO
Club: Northern Saints / Greenvale
Years: 2013-19
Games: 99
Goals: 78
Key Accolades:
2 x Team of the Year entries
1 x EDFL representative game
1 x Hutchison Medal runner-up
1 x David McWilliam Medal
1 x Premiership coach/player
INTERCHANGE- DYLAN JOYCE
Club: Keilor
Years: 2011-19
Games: 166
Goals: 160
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Club B&Fs
2 x EDFL representative games
2 x Premiership player
1 x Premiership captain
INTERCHANGE - LUKE DAVIS
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2014-19
Games: 99
Goals: 4
Key Accolades:
3 x Premiership captain
2 x Team of the Year entries
1 x EDFL representative game
INTERCHANGE - ROBBIE CASTELLO
Club: Maribyrnong Park / Westmeadows
Years: 2014-19
Games: 92
Goals: 119
Key Accolades:
3 x Team of the Year entries
2 x Club B&Fs
1 x EDFL representative game
1 x Hutchison Medal winner
COACH - ADAM POTTER
Club: Aberfeldie
Years: 2015-19
Overall Record: 86-15-1
Win Percentage: 84.31 per cent
Key Accolades:
3 x Premiership coach
5 x Grand Final appearances
2 x Team of the Year coach
EDFL TEAM OF THE 2010s
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