Is it the heart or the height that makes a football player? That question has haunted some players careers on their way to proving everyone around them wrong, despite the genetic cards they were dealt in life.

But what if you were to line up all of the great small players to ever play the game and rank them among themselves as if they were matching up against one another in the same weight class?

Here's my ranking of some of the short kings to grace the game. Note that I'm classifying them as small based on being listed as 175cm or smaller.

Honorable mentions go to North Melbourne premiership player Barry Cable and West Coast All-Australian Phillip Matera.

6Tony Liberatore (163 cm)

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19 Aug 2001: Tony Liberatore #39 for the Bulldogs prepares to kick the ball during the round 20 AFL match played between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Western Bulldogs held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. Mandatory Credit: Darrin Braybrook/ALLSPORT

Libba is considered to be one of the toughest wrecking ball-type midfielders the AFL will ever have. A great handballer and winner of the ball, Libba, when needed, would tag the opposition's best player and make his impact that way if he wasn't already dominating the centre of the ground. His play would be recognised with a Brownlow medal in 1990, before his first and only Charles Sutton medal in 1991.

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