Initial squad

A squad of 40 players was selected on 30 August. There was a change from the tradition of previous years and instead of players being selected by position, the selectors simply chose who they considered to be the 40 best performers for the season.^[4] The top four sides provided half of the 40 players. Geelong had the most players selected of any side, with seven, while minor premiers Collingwood had five and the third and fourth-placed finishers, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs, both had four players selected respectively. Adelaide, the Brisbane Lions and Port Adelaide did not have any players nominated for the squad. 18 players in the 40-man squad had not been selected in the All-Australian team before.^[2] Eight players who had been selected in the 2009 team did not make the 2010 squad, including 2009 captain Nick Riewoldt, Matthew Scarlett, Nick Maxwell, Simon Goodwin, Brendan Fevola, Leon Davis, Jonathan Brown and Craig Bolton.^[4]

Final team

The 2010 All-Australian team was announced on 13 September. Six of the 22 players were Geelong players, with four players coming from minor premiers Collingwood, while Hawthorn, Melbourne, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs had two players each. Carlton, Fremantle, Richmond and West Coast all had a lone representative, which meant that Adelaide, the Brisbane Lions, Essendon, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Sydney were not represented in the final 22. Players to make the squad for the first time were Harry Taylor, Jack Riewoldt, Scott Pendlebury, Harry O'Brien, Mark LeCras, Mark Jamar and James Frawley.^[5] No current team captains were named on the field (Chris Judd, captain of Carlton, was named on the bench) and so the selectors named Hawthorn vice-captain Luke Hodge as the captain instead. 2009 Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett Jr. was named vice-captain, although he was neither a captain or vice-captain at the time.^[6]

Of the 18 players from the squad of 40 who missed out, the non-selections of Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich, St Kilda's Lenny Hayes, Melbourne's Brad Green and 2008 Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney were considered the most contentious.^[7] Hayes, in particular, was considered a surprise, with St Kilda teammate and All-Australian wingman Leigh Montagna saying: "I was very surprised Lenny wasn't in the team... I pencilled him in for a captain or vice-captain. It's a big shock."^[6] Pavlich's non-selection also raised some eyebrows, with many experts predicting that the Fremantle captain would be selected in what would have been his seventh All-Australian side.^[8]

Note: the position of coach in the All-Australian team is traditionally awarded to the coach of the premiership team.