Top sides St Kilda and Geelong dominate this year's AFL All-Australian team, with Saints star Nick Riewoldt named captain for the first time.

Geelong full-back Matthew Scarlett and Adelaide defender Simon Goodwin received their fifth selections in a team which featured nine clubs and nine first-time picks.

The forwards have supplied the most surprising selections, with West Coast's Mark LeCras and Adelaide's Jason Porplyzia unlucky not to make the 22.

LeCras kicked 58 goals, the most by a small forward this season, and Porplyzia also had a great year with 52 goals.

St Kilda only lost two games this season and Geelong finished comfortably second, with the two teams then winning their qualifying finals.

They have had the week off ahead of this weekend's preliminary finals - the Saints play the Western Bulldogs on Friday night and the Cats meet Collingwood on Saturday evening.

The Magpies had three selections and two Bulldogs made the team.

Riewoldt made his fourth All-Australian team and was among seven players who backed up from selection last year.

Nick Dal Santo, Brendon Goddard, Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna were the other Saints to make the final team from the initial squad of 40.

Goddard and Montagna are first-time All-Australians.

Joining Scarlett as the Cats contingent are Gary Ablett, Corey Enright, Paul Chapman and Joel Selwood.

Ablett is in his third-straight All-Australian team, while Chapman and Selwood are first timers.

Another interesting feature of the team is that the Saints had the best defence in the league this year, but none of their backmen made the starting 18.

Sydney's Craig Bolton was named centre half-back, while Goddard, a backman, was named on the bench.

The Magpies have been unhappy with their lack of selections over the last few years, but this time captain Nick Maxwell and utilities Dane Swan and Leon Davis were picked for the first time.

Bulldogs full-back Brian Lake was expected to be named there, but that post went to Scarlett and Lake was named in a back pocket.

Bulldogs midfielder Matthew Boyd was named on the bench and he, like Lake, is in his first All-Australian team.

The other clubs with more than one selection were Carlton and Sydney, with Blues skipper Chris Judd made vice-captain and Brendan Fevola named at full-forward.

It is Judd's fourth All-Australian selection.

Apart from Bolton, Swans team-mate Adam Goodes was one of four interchange players. The selectors could not squeeze LeCras and Porplyzia into an attack that featured Chapman, Riewoldt and Swan across half-forward.

Davis, Fevola and Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown made up the forward line.

Fremantle giant Aaron Sandilands was the only ruckman named in the team.

Essendon was the only top-eight side not to be represented in the team.

The captaincy is another highlight in an outstanding career for Riewoldt, who starred with five goals in the qualifying final win over the Magpies.

"It's a huge honour and probably one I won't have too much time to think about at the moment, but I will look back after my career and be very proud of it," he said.

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