THE 2011 class of the Australian Football Hall of Fame is locked away.

Michael Voss, Nathan Buckley and James Hird all deserved instant induction, which in each case was three full seasons after their retirement.

Adelaide warrior Mark Ricciuto joined them on the night as the other recent retiree, with long-time media identity Tony Charlton and Tasmanian champion Horace Gorringe the other inductees.

The thing about the Hall of Fame is that every recipient is worthy. In that respect, the selection panel is never criticised for who gets into the Hall, but who is left out is another matter entirely.

As deserving an inductee as Ricciuto is, many have claimed that both Anthony Koutoufides and Glenn Archer are equally worthy.

Koutoufides was a star when the Blues won their last flag in 1995 and played the game at a sublime level for the best part of the next 10 years. The Brownlow Medal was his for the taking in 2000 when a cruel injury sidelined him a month before the finals.

Archer was tough and brilliant. A teammate of Wayne Carey (the best footballer Mike Sheahan claims to have ever seen) for 10 years, it was Archer and not Carey, who was named 'Shinboner of the Century' a few years back.

There will be few complaints if Koutoufides and Archer are inducted this time next year, but it might not be so straightforward if the usual practice of admitting only four recently-retired players holds true.

That's because the 2008 list of retirees who become eligible for admission next year offers up four players with a strong case for instant inclusion.

At the head of the class is Robert Harvey, St Kilda’s 383-game superstar and dual Brownlow medalist. He will be admitted with barely a discussion.

Fellow 2008 retirees, Hawthorn’s Shane Crawford and the Brisbane Lions’ Nigel Lappin, with four flags and a Brownlow between them would also have serious claims for immediate admission.

But what about Melbourne's record games holder David Neitz? His bona fides are extremely sound.

For that matter, so too are those of Peter Bell, Shannon Grant and Fraser Gehrig, fellow graduates of the class of 2008.

But should they get in ahead of Koutoufides and Archer?

If they don't, do they go to the back of the queue, not to be thought of again until they qualify as 'old-timers', of which there are many outstanding candidates over the years who have also yet to be recognised?

The Hall of Fame selection panel, which is slightly tweaked each year, is headed by AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick and included this year noted footy identities such as Dennis Cometti, Matt Finnis, Jim Main, Tim Lane, David Parkin, Tom Reynolds and Leigh Whicker.

Lane, Parkin and Reynolds will be replaced next year by Bruce McAvaney, Stephen Phillips and Michelangelo Rucci. Their knowledge of and passion for the game covers the length and breadth of the country and just about every era.

But for the first few months of each year, theirs is among the most difficult jobs in the game.

Halfway home, folks

We are now 12 rounds into the season and every club with the exception of Gold Coast has played 11 games and is half way through its allotted 22 games. Highlights and lowlights for your club? Read on.

ADELAIDE: A really poor season to date that even has the coach, Neil 'The Professor' Craig without any answers. The forward line is a mess, the midfield lacks spark and the trademark honesty is gone. We are not sure what the rest of the season will bring, but the natives are restless and won't stand for this sort of mediocrity for much longer.
Highlight: Beating Hawthorn in round one. It has been all downhill from there.
Lowlight: Losing to Melbourne by 96 points in round seven was as dark a day for the Crows as we can remember.

BRISBANE LIONS: You had to feel just a wee bit for Michael Voss at the Hall of Fame celebrations when he admitted that the problems of the Lions in 2011 were playing on his mind at a time the focus should have been on his magnificent playing career. Having said that, some of what ails the team can be traced directly to decisions made by Voss in his first two years as coach.
Highlight: Jonathan Brown's comeback game netted him four goals in the win over North Melbourne, the club's first victory of the season.
Lowlight: The Lions talked the talk in the lead-up to the inaugural Q Clash with the Suns, but couldn't walk the walk. The Suns took the intra-state bragging rights and the Lions were as left as low as any time since the wooden spoon of 1998.

CARLTON: Has been remarkably consistent and deservedly sits in third place. Brett Ratten has built a team that is tough, fast and dangerous at both ends of the ground. It also helps significantly to have the next triple Brownlow medalist in the side.
Highlight: Chris Judd has been, well Chris Judd, but when Marc Murphy steps up as he has and Chris Yarran reinvents himself as a running, quarterback-style defender, the Blues are different enough to suggest they'll go far deeper into the finals than their elimination final defeats of the last two seasons.
Lowlight: Another loss to Collingwood. But even that wasn’t all bad.

COLLINGWOOD: Unlucky to lose to Geelong, but it has been an exemplary premiership defence to date. Even the Mick Malthouse-Nathan Buckley succession issue has been pushed to the side.
Highlight: Lots of great wins, but the 88-point flogging of Melbourne on Monday, minus four of their best players (Dane Swan, Dale Thomas, Darren Jolly, Dayne Beams) might have been the best win of the lot. The improvement of Thomas has been a major bonus.
Lowlight: Nathan Brown's knee injury, but so well are the Pies flying that what was thought to be a season-ending injury might now have him back towards the finals.

ESSENDON: The Bombers started the season brilliantly, and not just the home and away season, but as far back as the start of the NAB Cup in February. James Hird introduced a tougher, more defensive brand of football in his return to the club, but three straight defeats have brought the Dons back to earth.
Highlight: The 55-point win over preliminary finalist the Western Bulldogs was super-impressive, as was the 52-point win over the Saints a fortnight later. But the piece-de-resistance was the League record 15-goal first quarter against Gold Coast in round five.
Lowlight: Injuries and suspensions have weakened the Bombers and contributed largely to the three most recent defeats. The 34-point loss on Sunday to Fremantle at Patersons Stadium was another barely-competitive performance outside Victoria.

FREMANTLE: Mark Harvey deserves credit for holding the team together during a season where there have been more players in the medical room than on the training track. On one occasion this year, he had only 25 players to choose a team from.
Highlights: The emergence of Nat Fyfe, and the near All Australian form of veteran defender Luke McPharlin.
Lowlight: The MCG losing streak is out to nine, with the most recent being the 22-point loss to Hawthorn a fortnight ago after leading by 26 points early in the final term. Fremantle returns there again on Sunday to face Melbourne.

GOLD COAST: With two wins from 10 games, the Suns would be delighted with their maiden AFL season. Gold Coast has unearthed a bunch of soon-to-be-great footballers, headlined by ruckman Zac Smith, whose emergence has intrigued the rest of the competition. Gary Ablett has proved to be worth every cent the Suns are paying him.
Highlight: Storming home to beat Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium after trailing by 41 points in the third term would be up there, although the win over the Lions was also great because that one might have been personal for a few of the Suns.
Lowlight: That would be conceding 15 goals in one quarter to Essendon.

GEELONG: Unbeaten after 11 games, the Cats have barely skipped a beat despite losing their coach and their best player over summer. They've ridden their luck just a bit, but good teams win close matches and these blokes just don't know how to lose.
Highlights: Close wins over fierce rivals Hawthorn (twice), Collingwood and St Kilda. The emergence of Mitch Duncan, Daniel Menzel and Nathan Vardy points to shrewd recruiting and excellent development coaching.
Lowlight: Tom Hawkins has regressed from wunderkind to potential trade bait in the space of four seasons.

HAWTHORN: Sits in the top four despite only really turning it on in fits and spurts so far this season, cases in point being the one-quarter turnarounds that led to wins over Melbourne, St Kilda and Fremantle.
Highlight: Beating the Swans at the SCG for just the second time in 16 seasons (12 meetings). Lance Franklin has also been approaching his 2008 levels, while Sam Mitchell has been immense.
Lowlight: Season-ending injuries to Ben Stratton, Steve Gilham and now, Jarryd Roughead, plus medium-term injuries to a bunch of others might have just about cruelled any premiership hopes for the Hawks.

MELBOURNE: A rollercoaster of a season, replete with highs such as the 16-goal belting of Adelaide and the fighting Friday night win over Essendon, and lows such as the losses to West Coast, Carlton and Collingwood, all on the big stage.
Highlight: The win over the Bombers in round 10, because it was powered by young guns Tom Scully, Jack Trengove and Jordan Gysberts.
Lowlight: Failing to back up the week after big wins. The 88-point loss to Collingwood on Monday, (which was spruiked like a Grand Final), just a week after the Essendon win illustrates this perfectly.

NORTH MELBOURNE: Injuries and a horror draw (two trips to Perth and a clash with Collingwood) set the Kangaroos back at the start of the season and it is only now that the form and the confidence is starting to return.
Highlight: The resurgence of Drew Petrie, the brilliance of Boomer Harvey and the emergence of Todd Goldstein, the latter of whom has given the Roos an enviable stockpile of talented big men. Could come in handy for a rainy day.
Lowlight: A continued inability to beat the teams above them. North desperately needs a big scalp, a palpable sign that Brad Scott has his side on the right track.

PORT ADELAIDE: With just two wins and all sorts of financial issues off the field, it has been the season from hell for Port Adelaide.
Highlight: Port spotted Adelaide a four-goal lead in the opening term before turning it around to win by 32 points in the Showdown. Sadly for Port, it wasn’t the start of anything special for 2011 (see lowlight).
Lowlight: Someone was always going to be the first team to lose to Gold Coast. Port did so in style, blowing a seven-goal lead late in the third term to lose at home. The ardour of the Showdown win over the Crows lasted a week.

RICHMOND: Started slowly and then found a winning vein of form, highlighted by the Dreamtime at the 'G win over Essendon in front of 83,000 fans. The roar is starting to return.
Highlight: Richmond is assembling an A-grade midfield and the outrageously-talented Dustin Martin might not only be the best of the lot, but among the elite of the AFL within a year.
Lowlight: The merits of selling a home game to Darwin's TIO Stadium (which the Tigers then lost) will continue to be debated for the rest of the season if the team just misses the finals.

ST KILDA: Would appear to be suffering the mother of all hangovers after three close runs in as many years. The unrelenting 'Saints Footy' is now no more and coach Ross Lyon has embarked on a journey with a bunch of new players as the Saints begin to reinvent themselves.
Highlight: The win over Fremantle in Perth in round 10 brought with it the return of 'Saints Footy', if only for a week. The Saints were tough and mean as they shut down Freo.
Lowlight: Losing Lenny Hayes to a season-ending knee injury in round two. Nick Riewoldt might be the skipper, but Hayes remains the heart and soul of the side.

SYDNEY SWANS: Sunday’s win over Richmond was just their second in five SCG matches for the year. They’ve been good on the road and 1-0 at ANZ Stadium, but need to do better at their once was fortress.
Highlight: The Swans-West Coast rivalry came to life at Patersons Stadium in round three, when the visitors kicked two late goals (both to Andrejs Everitt) to get the win. But the star was Adam Goodes, who played a vintage last quarter to help get the points.
Lowlight: The Swans haven’t been able to get Daniel Bradshaw on the park this year and may not at all. Ben McGlynn is their leading goalkicker with 21 goals, which is nice for him, but the Swans need a power forward to emerge. Perhaps it's the round 12 NAB AFL Rising Star, Sam Reid, if he can get his kicking boots straight.

WEST COAST: One of the success stories of the season. Widely thought to be a bottom-four prospect back in March, the Eagles have flirted with the top four for much of the season and appear set for a top-six finish as a minimum. John Worsfold has coached superbly.
Highlight: Beating Fremantle for the first time in eight attempts was special, as was Josh Kennedy’s 10-goal bag against the Bulldogs, but the key to the Eagles in 2011 has been the return to fitness, and therefore form of Dean Cox, Andrew Embley and Daniel Kerr.
Lowlight: The Eagles blew a bright start to lose to Essendon at Etihad Stadium in round seven and were never in the hunt three weeks later against Collingwood at the MCG. No shame in that, but a win in Victoria ahead of the finals will be important. 

WESTERN BULLDOGS: The disappointment of the season. A bit like the Saints, the Dogs are showing the effects of three years of premiership contention with nothing to show for it. Bereft of spirit and lacking pace, it has been a bleak season out west.
Highlight: The father-son rule has delivered well for the Bulldogs with Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis appearing set for long and successful careers. The debut of Ayce Cordy is eagerly anticipated by all Bulldogs fans.
Lowlight: Barry Hall injured, Brian Lake injured and apparently suffering confidence issues. Take the All Australian bookends out of the equation and the void is huge. 

THIS WEEK’S GAME NOT TO BE MISSED
Carlton-Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Five good teams will be hunting top-four berths if the Swans get the win here and if the Hawks, as expected, take the points against Gold Coast in Launceston.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs