While the AFL will soon relish the opportunity to play another grand final, country footballers will again wonder what could have been.
With the abandonment of community sport overshadowing the 2021 season, clubs were able to get on the park at times during the year, showing friend and foe alike where they are placed heading into 2022.
With that in mind the Advertiser has used the full range of resources at its disposal, including best on ground lists, statistics and the opinions of coaches, respected sports administrators and its own journalists to put together the 2021 East Gippsland football Advertiser Team of the Year.
This team is picked on a positional basis, with six midfielders, defenders and forwards picked alongside an extended six-man bench in a side which would have the best chance of winning a do-or-die game any day of the week.