Throughout the final years of the 1990s,ย 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 2000ย AFLย season will be acknowledged.
  • Any player selected must have played at least 100 senior games for their respective club since the start of the 2000ย AFLย season.

Next up, we're heading to the Hangar to rate which Bombers have flown higher than the rest.

PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES, PIES

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1. Matthew Lloyd (2000-2009)ย 

3 x Coleman Medal (2000, 2001 and 2003)
9 x leading goalkicker (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009)
3 x All-Australian (2000, 2001 and 2003)
1 x premiership player (2000)
189 games, 681 goals, 3.6 goals per game, 73 Brownlow votes, 0.4 votes per game

Lead out, mark, toss the grass, slot the goal, repeat. Across the opening seasons of the century, there was no more deadly goalkicker than Matthew James Lloyd. And outside of John Coleman, there have been no spearheads that come close to matching or edging Lloyd in Essendon's history books.

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