He's been a rock in Carlton's backline and it caught the eye of coaches across the competition, with Zach Tuohy being named in the AFL Coaches Association's All-Australian team.

It follows a consistent season from the Irishman, which saw him run out for all 22 games and finish third in Carlton's John Nicholls Medal.

The 25-year-old shut down some of the best forwards in the competition and was voted by the coaches as the league's best lockdown defender.

AFLCA Chief Executive Officer Mark Brayshaw says the AFL Coaches Association's All-Australian team is a “pure” team.

“The season’s best performing players are not always selected," Brayshaw said.

"For instance, Sam Mitchell came eighth in the AFLCA’s 2015 Champion Player Award with 69 votes, however, he is not selected in because he is the fifth ranked inside midfielder and the team only needs 4 in this position. On the other hand, Zach Tuohy came equal 100th in the Award with 22 votes. Zach was selected because he’s the highest rated small defender.

“The Coaches Association’s All-Australian team highlights the AFL Coaches’ unique perspective on the game. For instance, Bernie Vince, Cale Hooker and Zach Tuohy weren’t short-listed in the AFL’s All-Australian squad of 40 but made our team. On the other hand, we haven’t selected 6 of the 20 top place-getters the AFLCA’s 2015 Champion Player Award.”

The AFLCA's All-Australian team was selected using the votes in the AFLCA’s 2015 Champion Player Award to select players.

The final team was selected based on a two-step process after the 23 Home & Away rounds. The first step classified the season’s best players into one of the positions in the team structure. Then, each player was ranked in diminishing order of the number of AFLCA Champion Player Award votes earned in the 2015 Season.

TUOHY’S YEAR IN REVIEW

Champion Data Ranking Points: 79 (Above Average)

Disposals: 18.8 (Above Average)

Kicking Efficiency: 78% (Above Average)

Uncontested Possessions: 12.1 (Average)

Metres Gained: 326 (Above Average)

Intercept Possessions: 4.9 (Above Average)