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:
Next up, we're crossing over to Olympic Park to catalogue the cream of Collingwood's crop of champions.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES
5 x leading goalkicker (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005)
1 x All-Australian
172 games, 289 goals, 1.7 goals per game
Whether flying through the air to take Mark of the Year or splitting the big sticks at will, Tarrant was the Pies' first true talisman in the post-millenium era.
While his time in black and white would be divided by a stint out west with the Dockers, there have been few more popular Magpie trades of this century than when the Woods brought 'Taz' home after the 2010 premiership.
5 x leading goalkicker (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023)
1 x premiership player (2023)
126 games, 212 goals, 1.7 goals per game
Originally drafted as a mature-aged, intercept defender out of Port Melbourne, Mihocek wasted no time in proving he could play at the other end of the ground, snapping up the first of five-straight leading goalkicker gongs in just his second season as a Pie.
Despite producing time and again without a twin pillar beside him, the Tasmanian remains criminally underrated outside of Collingwood's inner circle.
2 x All-Australian (2020 and 2023)
1 x premiership player - captain (2023)
150 games
Since the club's first league flag in 1902, only 11 Magpies have ever captained their side to premiership glory. This list can be whittled down to just two since the turn of the millennium, with only one of these names having ever earned dual All-Australian honours: Darcy Moore.
And at just 28, the smiling face of the new Magpies still has plenty of winters yet to land more flags and blazers, as well as surge further up this list.
1 x best and fairest (2006)
1 x leading goalkicker (2010)
2 x All-Australian (2006 and 2010)
1 x premiership player (2010)
218 games, 274 goals, 1.25 goals per game
While far from a favourite of opposition fans, the Magpie Army loved Didak, just as he loved performing for them.
Adept in the air, on the ground, as well as inside and outside the contest, the South Australian didn't mind getting his hands dirty - on or off the field - just as he didn't mind a goal or two.
2 x best and fairest (2018 and 2019)
2 x All-Australian (2018 and 2019)
177 games, 5629 hitouts, 31.8 hitouts per game
The last two seasons may have seen his star slip a bit in league circles, but when it came to his days in black and white, Grundy was an out-and-out gun.
Twice voted as the Pies' best and fairest - seasons in which he was also named the best ruckman in the league - the man-bunned big man made each of his midfielders shine by providing them with silver service.
1 x best and fairest (2007)
4 x leading goalkicker (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014)
2 x All-Australian (2011 and 2013)
1 x premiership player (2010)
246 games, 441 goals, 1.8 goals per game
Although routinely potted for his waywardness, Cloke proved a consistent figure in Collingwood's forward arc, bagging four straight leading goalkicker gongs after Chris Tarrant went west.
A dual All-Australian, a Copeland Trophy winner and a legacy Magpie, Travis is easily the most decorated member of the Cloke clan, holding bragging rights over brothers Jason and Cameron, as well as his old man, David.
2 x best and fairest (2017 and 2018)
1 x All-Australian (2018)
2 x premiership player (2010 and 2023)
309 games, 23.6 disposals per game, 101 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
Steele by name and steeled by nature, Sidebottom has been like Greenwich Mean Time for the Pies across the past decade and change, turning defence into attack on his wing, time and time again.
While missing a few feathers these days, the man affectionately known as 'Rusty' has long been a fan favourite, and will no doubt remain so throughout the twilight of his days in black and white.
1 x Brownlow Medal (2003)
1 x Norm Smith Medal (2002)
2 x best and fairest (2000 and 2003)
3 x All-Australian (2000, 2001 and 2003)
138 games, 24.5 disposals per game, 82 Brownlow votes, 0.6 votes per game
Despite having his head chiselled into Collingwood's Mount Rushmore, 'Bucks' took a minor hit here, with the superstar having spread his peak across the 90s and early 2000s.
Still, with his Brownlow and Norm Smith arriving this side of the Sydney Olympics, there was no way the ball magnet was missing our top three.
But while his 21st-century CV is nothing to sniff at, it was a couple of Buckley's proteges that have edged the old buck here.
1 x Brownlow Medal (2011)
1 x Leigh Matthews Trophy (2010)
3 x best and fairest (2008, 2009 and 2010)
5 x All-Australian (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013)
258 games, 26.85 disposals per game, 186 Brownlow votes, 0.7 votes per game
Although renowned for his heavily inked arms, Swan earned the many awards on his mantle by the ball in the hands at the end of them more often than not.
Despite a slow start as an AFL footballer, Swan shot to superstardom before long, claiming AA blazers either side of the Pies' 2010 premiership - a flag he played a leading role in helping to fly.
1 x Norm Smith Medal (2010)
5 x best and fairest (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016)
6 x All-Australian (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2019)
2 x premiership player (2010 and 2023)
383 games, 25.8 disposals per game, 221 Brownlow votes, 0.6 votes per game
I mean, really? Who else was it going to be?
A Norm, five Copelands, six blazers and a pair of flags, it was always going to be Pendlebury. The only debate still ragging is whether the Gippsland native is, in fact, the greatest Magpie of all-time, edging the likes of Coventry, Rose and his old teammate and mentor, Nathan Buckley.