Fremantle midfielder Caleb Serong and running defender Jordan Clark have been named in the 2025 All-Australian Team on Thursday.
Serong, who is receiving his third consecutive blazer, has been named on the interchange, while Clark is making his All Australian debut, named on-field in the backline alongside Hawthorn's Josh Battle and the Giants' Sam Taylor.
The duo were honoured alongside the full team of 22 players at a ceremony at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on Thursday night.
Jordan Clark
• Never previously in the All-Australian team.
• 2024 Extended Squad.
• 23 matches this season, 2 goals, 3 behinds.
• Averages: 24.3 disposals, 75.7% disposal efficiency, 4.9 marks, 1.6 intercept marks, 1.9 spoils, and 5.3 rebound 50s.
Coming off a breakout 2024 season, which saw Clark named in the All-Australian squad of 44 for the first time, he has backed up his efforts with another brilliant campaign. One of the game’s best running defenders, Clark has played a pivotal role in rebounding Fremantle’s attack from defensive 50, ranking 16th overall in the competition for metres gained, averaging 483.9 per game.
Caleb Serong
• 2023, 2024 All-Australian Team.
• 23 matches this season, 7 goals, 6 behinds.
• Averages: 27.0 disposals, 65.6% disposal efficiency, 14.1 contested possessions, 8.0 clearances, 3.8 centre clearances, 4.6 tackles, 5.9 score involvements, and 5.3 inside 50s.
Serong has had another outstanding year in the midfield, ranking second in the competition for clearances behind only Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell, and equal 11th league-wide for total disposals, amassing a monstrous 622 for the year.
He is also one of six players to retain their spot from the 2024 AFL All Australian Team.
Speaking following the All Australian team reveal on the Fox Footy broadcast, Serong said the influence of dual Brownlow Medalist Nat Fyfe in his early development was instrumental in him becoming the player he is today.
"I've got so much respect and admiration for him and the legacy he'll leave on our football Club," Serong said.
"Guys like Andrew Brayshaw and myself came into that midfield as young bucks, and he kind of took a little step to the side to allow us to develop.
"For him to do that when he was the best player in the competition, I've got a lot of respect for - because I wouldn't have been able to develop the way that I did if he didn't make that selfless decision."
In conjunction with Clark and Serong being named in the All Australian team, young gun Murphy Reid was awarded the AFL Players’ Association Best First-Year Player.
The AFLPA voting is conducted via a two-stage process, where each player in the competition nominates a teammate for the Most Courageous Player and Best First-Year Player honours.
Each club skipper is automatically nominated for the Best Captain.
All players then vote on a 3-2-1 basis from the nominees of the 17 other clubs, with the votes tallied to decide the winner.
Reid has played in all 23 games of the home and away season, earning his Telstra AFL Rising Star nomination in Round 6 following a performance that included 17 disposals, three marks, two tackles, and a goal against Melbourne. Arguably, his best performance came five rounds later, with 18 disposals and four goals in a 49-point win over Port Adelaide in Round 11.
Earlier this month, Reid was also named in the forward pocket of the 22under22 team.
Now a three-time All-Australian and co-vice-captain, Serong was the last Fremantle player to win the Best First-Year Player award in 2020.
The winner of the Telstra AFL Rising Star will be announced on the night of the Brownlow Medal on Monday 2 September.
