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 head west to decide which Dockers can be counted as the ten best of this century.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES, PIES, BOMBERS
218 games, 19.2 disposals per game, 36 Brownlow votes, 0.2 votes per game
While he lacked a career filled with individual achievements and his stats don't exactly jump off the page, the elder of the two Hill brothers was as reliable as his tank was large.
And though medals, blazers and flags would fail to arrive across his 12 seasons in purple, Hill can lay claim to have kicked perhaps the greatest goal in Dockers' history with a marathon run to seal the 2013 qualifying final.
1 x All-Australian (2013)
244 games
Uber reliable in his post down back, Johnson provided the Dockers with sterling service for the better part of 14 seasons.
Routinely in the running for Doig Medal honours, as well as willing to chop out elsewhere on the field, the Perth native earned his flowers in 2013 when he was named an All-Australian.
1 x All-Australian (2012)
244 games
The oft-forgotten steak knives in the trade that saw Luke Hodge become a Hawk, McPharlin, like Johnson, became a defensive pillar, season after season, but only after shaking off early injury woes.
While never the flashiest Docker on the park, the East Fremantle product flew high in 2005, hauling in the Mark of the Year.
1 x Leigh Matthews Trophy (2022)
1 x best and fairest (2022)
1 x All-Australian (2022)
123 games, 23.8 disposals per game, 55 Brownlow votes, 0.4 votes per game
Despite hailing from Melbourne, Brayshaw has become one of the faces of Fremantle's current generation, with the ball-magnet acting as vice-captain to Alex Pearce, alongside his midfield mate Caleb Serong.
Don't let the baby face fool you, the 2022 Doig medallist is as hard as nails. And with time on his side, expect to see the 24-year-old climb further up lists like these.
3 x best and fairest (2001, 2003 and 2004)
1 x All-Australian (2003)
161 games, 24.35 disposals per game, 80 Brownlow votes, 0.5 votes per game
An inaugural Docker and still there today, Bell bleeds purple, with the former midfielder still trying to guide a first premiership to dock through the Mole lighthouses in his role as footy boss.
During his playing days, the little general proved potent, finding the ball at will and leading Fremantle to its first finals series in 2003 and debut win three years later.
5 x leading goalscorer (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019)
1 x All-Australian (2019)
222 games, 348 goals, 1.6 goals per game
Turbo-charged and deadly if left unattended, Walters is a livewire in every sense of the term.
Even if he moves a tick slower than he used to, the Swan Districts product proved he still had the goods in 2023, completing his first 30-plug goal season since 2019.
A fan favourite, Docker fans will have every finger crossed 'Sonny' can salute in September before he eventually hangs up the boots.
1 x best and fairest (2010)
1 x All-Australian (2015)
376 games, 21.4 disposals per game, 120 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
Look up dependable or loyal in the dictionary, and you are sure to be met with a picture of the Surfy from Seymour.
While individual awards failed to flow across the course of his 19-season career, Mundy proved to be the ultimate teammate, putting the team first at every turn while he plied his trade on every line.
2 x best and fairest (2009 and 2015)
4 x All-Australian (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014)
271 games, 31.4 hitouts per game, 88 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
Alongside Peter Street and 'The Lanky Yankee' Mason Cox, Sandilands stands as the tallest AFL player to ever lace an enormous boot.
The Western Australian used his frame to his advantage for years, acting as the game's leading ruckman at his peak as he delivered the Dockers' myriad of gun midfielders silver service.
2 x Brownlow Medal (2015 and 2019)
2 x Leigh Matthews Trophy (2014 and 2015)
3 x best and fairest (2013, 2014 and 2019)
3 x All-Australian (2014, 2015 and 2019)
218 games, 24.5 disposals per game, 187 Brownlow votes, 0.85 votes per game
A pair of Brownlows and league MVPs should be enough to see a player sit atop a list like this, but when it comes to the Dockers since the turn of the century, Nat Fyfe takes silver instead of gold.
The Lake Grace product's CV speaks for itself, with Fyfe accruing just shy of a Brownlow vote on average every single week.
While currently standing on the second rung of this ladder, should the out-and-out gun play a key role in the Dockers breaking their flag drought, our rankings will no doubt need updating.
6 x best and fairest (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011)
8 x leading goalkicker (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012)
6 x All-Australian (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008)
353 games, 700 goals, 1.98 goals per game, 126 Brownlow votes, 0.35 votes per game
While plenty would have had Nat Fyfe leading this list, it is Pavlich sitting at the top of the pops because when you think Fremantle, you think Pavlich.
Across the course of his 17 seasons in the west, the uber-talented South Australian starred on all three lines, proving the most potent up forward, with the inspirational spearhead bagging just shy of two goals a game for the length of his star-studded career.