EARLY last year, I thought that Corey Enright was just about gone.

He was in possibly the first poor patch of form in his career, and it looked like father time might have finally caught up with him.

But he quickly turned it around and finished the year really strongly, so much so that Geelong desperately wanted him to go on.

This year, with the Cats’ games record now under his belt and at the age of 34, he has reaffirmed something that I have maintained for many years — that he is the greatest small to medium defender the game has ever seen.

Boris was named in the All-Australian squad this week and must be selected in the team.

This isn’t a mate’s pick, Boris has been amazing this year and one of the key reasons for Geelong’s rise back up the ladder.

He will be possibly be sitting a clear third in the best-and-fairest behind Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood, the two other Cats named in the squad, and hasn’t played a bad game.

That slow patch of form at the start of 2015 was just that and surely four or five average AFL games out of 330-odd can be forgiven.

If Boris is selected in the team, as he must be, it will be his sixth All-Australian selection, equalling the record for a Geelong player held by his great mate Matthew Scarlett.

Competing against him for selection as the small defenders are Sydney’s Dane Rampe, Carlton pair Sam Docherty and Kade Simpson, GWS Giant Heath Shaw.

Port Adelaide’s Jasper Pittard and Bulldogs veteran Matthew Boyd.

To me, the three clear standouts are Rampe, who has just taken his game to an elite level, Shaw, who has been dominant for the Giants in their breakout year, and Enright. I love Kade Simpson. He is a marvel and is the unlucky one, but to me he is just that little bit behind the other three.

So, to the rest of the All-Australian team.

The two other Cats boys are locks.

Selwood and Danger have been the best one-two punch in the competition this year and, like Boris, should be picked in the starting 18, right in the guts. Selwood is the standout captain, too.

I can’t wait to see what these two boys do during September.

As for the key defenders, to work alongside Shaw, Rampe and Boris, you can’t look past Alex Rance, who has held the Tigers together as best as he could this year. He is hands down the best defender in the comp and by the end of his career could be sitting equal with the best I have ever seen in Scarlett. Time will tell on that, but the fact that he is in the same conversation says a bit.

Daniel Talia has been enormous for the Crows this year, and I’ve loved the work of West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern, who is a great intercept mark.

Given that Max Gawn is the only ruckman in the squad, he writes himself, but the rest of the midfield is where it gets tricky, with so many superstar midfielders out there.

I find it hard to go past the Cats and Swans boys.

Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker and Josh Kennedy continue to be the driving force behind Sydney. Obviously, you have to get Rory Sloane in there on the back of his year for the Crows, and it is hard to ignore Marcus Bontempelli and Dustin Martin.

The other guy I would get in there is Lorne product Jack Steven, who has been sensational for the Saints this year. His numbers are up there with Selwood and he has been a matchwinner for St Kilda in its improving year.

Buddy Franklin and Josh Kennedy pick themselves in the key forward posts. I mean, Buddy is still your first pick in any team isn’t he?

And Tom Lynch at the Gold Coast is a superstar in the making. If you were going to pick a young team of the year, Lynch and Bontempelli would be captain and vice-captain.

The small forwards are also easy to pick — Cyril Rioli and Eddie Betts.

My smoky for the team is GWS Giant Toby Greene. Now I would have liked to see Stevie Johnson sneak in, but he wasn’t included in the squad, so I will go with his young prodigy.

I’ve got no doubt Greene’s improvement this year is due to Stevie’s influence at training and on the field.

Greene has been in a bit of trouble in his early AFL years, so Stevie may see a bit of himself in the clever young forward, but the reason GWS got Stevie to the club was to help fast-track the development of these kids. Greene is the prime example.

This year, he has kicked 39 goals, is top 10 in the league for score involvements, third for goal assists, third for inside-50s and has averaged 21 possessions. He deserves to be a first-time All Australian.

So there it is. My All-Australian team for 2016. The AFL will announce the team on Thursday night.

MOONEY’S ALL-AUSTRALIANS

B: Heath Shaw (GWS Giants), Alex Rance (Richmond), Daniel Talia (Adelaide).

HB: Corey Enright (Geelong), Jeremy McGovern (West Coast), Dane Rampe (Sydney).

C: Dan Hannebery (Sydney), Josh Kennedy (Sydney), Rory Sloane (Adelaide)

HF: Dustin Martin (Richmond), Lance Franklin (Sydney), Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)

F: Eddie Betts (Adelaide), Josh Kennedy (West Coast), Tom Lynch (Gold Coast)

R: Max Gawn (Melbourne), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Joel Selwood (Geelong)

Inter: Luke Parker (Sydney), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs), Jack Steven (St Kilda), Toby Greene (GWS Giants).