They become the stuff of schoolyard legend. Theirs are the numbers adorning the backs of the fawning faithful. The true rockstars of our great game.
The high flyers.
It's part of the fabric of the code, is the hanger. There's nothing quite like the roar of a crowd when one of the men in the arena sits on the shoulders of another, and with velcro-like hands, plucks the Sherrin from the skies.
Take a look at some of those who have forged a reputation for themselves as artists among the clouds.
11. Billy Picken
The Collingwood champion quickly earned cult hero status for his finals performances, and the screamers that characterised them.
Picken was almost a weekly fixture of Seven's Mark of the Day segment, such was his knack for plucking them. A centre half-back, it didn't matter if he was playing front shoulder, back shoulder, drifting in as the spare or coming in from three deep - you knew Picken was coming down with the pill. Blessed with the gift of the gab, he was short odds to let his opponents know all about it in the moments immediately following, too.
A victim of the infamous "Colliwobbles", perhaps no player could be as frustrated by the lack of premiership medallion adorning their mantle as Picken, such was his record on the big stage.
May he rest in peace.
