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 run the rule over Melbourne, to see which Demons proved deadliest.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES, PIES, BOMBERS, DOCKERS, CATS, SUNS, GIANTS, HAWKS
1 x best and fairest (2004)
1 x All-Australian (2004)
192 games, 20.8 hitouts per game
Taken by the Dockers with the opening pick of the 1994 AFL Draft, White lasted just three seasons in the West before returning home and joining the Redlegs ahead of the 1998 season.
Tall, athletic and precise, White began to peak as a ruckman at the turn of the century, acting as a key member of Melbourne's rise to a grand final berth in 2000.
Had it not been for a bearded successor of his, the Frankston native could very well have laid claim to being the Demons' best big man of the century.
1 x best and fairest (2001)
1 x All-Australian (2002)
177 games, 196 goals, 1.1 goals per game, 20.4 disposals per game, 71 Brownlow votes, 0.4 votes per game
Adept at finding the footy as well as splitting the big sticks, Yze's versatility was only bettered by his availability as his key attribute, with the Shepperton native playing 226 games on the trot between 1997 and 2007.
A fixture in his rolled sleeves, gloves and gelled hair, Yze proved a favourite amongst fans and teammates alike because, unlike a Gumpian box of chocolates, you always knew what you were going to get from him.
4 x leading goalkicker (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023)
1 x premiership player (2021)
126 games, 211 goals, 1.7 goals per game
While only just scrapping on past our games-played marker, Fritsch's selection is a testament to just how potent he has been since trading Coldstream for the MCG.
In just six seasons, Fritsch has bagged 211 goals, and across the past four, he has had no peer in red and blue when it comes to splitting the sticks.
Having only just turned 27 and contracted until the end of 2026, the Jimmy Neutron look-a-like still has plenty of time to catapult himself up this list in the winters to come.
2 x best and fairest (2006 and 2007)
1 x All-Australian (2006)
210 games, 19.2 disposals per game, 4.45 tackles per game
A loyal servant of the oldest football club in the land, McDonald learned the ropes during the Demons' salad days of the early 2000s before eventually leading from the front once the skies began to grey before the end of the decade.
While never the prettiest player or one prone to leather poisoning, few can lay claim to fighting harder for the grand old flag than this former rookie lister.
1 x best and fairest (2003)
4 x leading goalkicker (2001, 2005, 2007 and 2009)
196 games, 397 goals, 2.02 goals per game
A noted goalkicker with a penchant for a high fly, Robertson had many admirers during his heyday, with plenty of guernseys in the outer adorned with his No.24.
Still involved with the club as the game day MC, the Tasmanian continues to give to the red and blue cause.
3 x best and fairest (2012, 2013 and 2014)
302 games, 22.4 disposals per game, 81 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
Hard as nails and as committed as they come, Nathan Jones may have started his career with hair and no tattoos and ended it with none and plenty, but his greatest achievement came in morphing himself from a young draftee into a key pillar so quickly.
While desperately unlucky to have missed Melbourne's drought-breaking grand final win after walking through all of the mire, Jones' legacy was cemented long before September of 2021, however.
1 x Coleman Medal (2002)
1 x best and fairest (2002)
4 x leading goalkicker (2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006)
1 x All-Australian (2002)
169 games, 414 goals, 2.4 goals per game
A leader in every sense of the word, no Demon played more games or kicked more goals than David Neitz.
While his days in red and blue stretch back to the early 90s, the spearhead hit his straps after the turn of the millennium, claiming Coleman honours in 2002 and routinely leading the Redlegs in offensive output.
An absolute giant of the club, few will ever match Neitz's impact in Melbourne's lengthy annals.
2 x best and fairest (2018 and 2019)
6 x All-Australian (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022)
1 x premiership player (2021)
203 games, 33 hitouts per game, 108 Brownlow votes, 0.5 votes per game
Long gone are the days of being caught puffing darts on the way to training, Gawn has morphed from a kid with potential to an out-and-out superstar, one who will forever be known for having steered the Demons back to glory.
With six All-Australian blazers to his name, Gawn can flex to being the preeminent ruckman of his era, and with so many gun midfielders beneath him, it's no surprise why Melbourne has become so familiar with September in recent times.
4 x best and fairest (2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022)
3 x All-Australian (2018, 2021 and 2022)
1 x premiership player (2021)
162 games, 29.2 disposals per game, 116 Brownlow votes, 0.7 votes per game
Despite recent issues, when Oliver is on song, few, if any, midfielders can match his potency.
Week in and week out, the Mooroopna native finds the football at will, often giving his forwards silver service as he rips it out of the centre, time and again.
If this generation of Demons are to add to the trophy cabinet, much of this success is sure to boil down to how well Oliver performs, proving just how crucial a juncture the club finds itself at ahead of the 2024 season.
1 x Norm Smith Medal (2021)
2 x best and fairest (2020 and 2023)
1 x leading goalkicker (2019)
4 x All-Australian (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023)
1 x premiership player (2021)
176 games, 23.3 disposals per game, 170 goals, 0.97 goals per game, 98 Brownlow votes, 0.55 votes per game
Up forward, in the middle and everywhere else on the ground, Petracca has proven himself to be a handful that very few opponents can quell.
A deadset bull with an insatiable appetite for the contest, the Eastern Ranges product's current masterpiece came when it mattered most, with Petracca racking up 39 disposals and slotting two goals during the Demons' drought-breaking win in the 2021 grand final.
Like his midfield running mate Oliver, if the Demons are to turn a one-off flag into something resembling a dynasty, plenty will fall at this jet's capable feet.