No less than eight Essendon players have been pencilled in as All Australian contenders following the selection committee's mid-season review. For the first time the contenders have been made public and they include Dustin Fletcher, James Hird, Danny Jacobs, Jason Johnson, Mark Johnson, Matthew Lloyd, Adam Ramanauskas and Sean Wellman. The 2002 All Australian Selection Committee comprises Wayne Jackson (non-voting Chairman), Rod Austin, Kevin Bartlett, Andrew Demetriou, Gerard Healy, Neil Kerley, Chris Mainwaring and Robert Walls.

Jacobs, Mark Johnson and Ramanauskas are in line for first-time selection should their form from the first half of the season carry on for the remainder of the home and away season. Essendon and Port Adelaide both have eight nominations - the second most behind Brisbane who has nine nominations. Players not in the squad at this stage of the season can still push for selection in the second half of the season.

The squad to this stage of the season is:

Adelaide: Mark Bickley, Ben Hart, Kane Johnson, Andrew McLeod, Mark Ricciuto
Brisbane Lions: Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Justin Leppitsch, Alastair Lynch, Martin Pike, Brad Scott, Michael Voss
Carlton: Andrew McKay, Lance Whitnall
Collingwood: Nathan Buckley, Scott Burns, Paul Licuria, Anthony Rocca, Chris Tarrant
Essendon: Dustin Fletcher, James Hird, Danny Jacobs, Jason Johnson, Mark Johnson, Matthew Lloyd, Adam Ramanauskas, Sean Wellman
Fremantle: Peter Bell, Troy Cook, Paul Hasleby, Matthew Pavlich, Troy Simmonds
Geelong: Steven King, Kent Kingsley, Peter Riccardi, Matthew Scarlett
Hawthorn: Shane Crawford, Angelo Lekkas, Richard Vandenberg
Kangaroos: Glenn Archer, Saverio Rocca, Adam Simpson
Melbourne: Jeff White, Adem Yze
Port Adelaide: Peter Burgoyne, Josh Francou, Damien Hardwick, Adam Kingsley, Brett Montgomery, Matthew Primus, Warren Tredrea, Darryl Wakelin
Richmond: Wayne Campbell, Jason Torney
St Kilda: Lenny Hayes, Stephen Milne, Nick Riewoldt
Sydney: Daryn Cresswell, Barry Hall, Paul Williams
West Coast: Ben Cousins, Glen Jakovich, Ashley McIntosh, Troy Wilson
Western Bulldogs: Daniel Bandy, Nathan Brown, Luke Darcy, Brad Johnson, Rohan Smith

The final side is selected in position.