Throughout the final years of the 1990s, AFL clubs across the land looked backward rather than forward, with selectors, historians and superstars converging to name their Teams of the 20th Century.
So, as we near the quarter-time mark of the 21st century, what better time to run the rule on which players are likely to feature when the selectors of tomorrow get together in several decades' time?
While every club has an array of deadset legends that can be called on, we here at Zero Hanger have employed the following rules of selection:
- Only statistics recorded and achievements accrued since the start of the 2000 AFL season will be acknowledged.
- All statistics and awards must have been accrued while playing for the club in question.
- Any player selected must have played at least 100 senior games for their respective club since the start of the 2000 AFL season.
Next up, we head out to Waverley to hunt down which Hawks have made the cut.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES, PIES, BOMBERS, DOCKERS, CATS, SUNS, GIANTS
3. Lance Franklin (2005-2013)Â
2 x Coleman Medal (2008 and 2011)
1 x best and fairest (2008)
6 x leading goalkicker (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012)
4 x All-Australian (2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012)
2 x premiership player (2008 and 2013)
182 games, 580 goals, 3.2 votes per game, 82 Brownlow votes, 0.45 votes per game
Some may count Franklin as unlucky to have only nabbed bronze on this list, but if 'Buddy' had stayed in brown and gold for longer, there is no doubt that he would have occupied rarer air.
Still, across the course of his 11 seasons as a Hawk, the Western Australian proved to be the most damaging key forward in the competition, especially in 2008, a season in which Franklin averaged more than four-and-a-half goals per game.
