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 he to Arden Street to separate the the wheat from the Roos' chaff.

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1. Brent Harvey (2000-2016)

5 x best and fairest (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2018)
4 x All-Australian (2000, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
368 games, 452 goals, 1.2 goals per game, 22.7 disposals per game, 181 Brownlow votes, 0.5 votes per game

Think North Melbourne, and you think 'Boomer' Harvey. It is as simple as that.

For the first 17 seasons of the century, the Preston native was a constant in blue and white bars, finding the ball, splitting the sticks and collecting his just desserts as he went.

Like his longtime teammate Glenn Archer, Harvey's son, Cooper, now calls Arden Street home, with the son-of-the-gun facing a near-impossible task of living up to his old man's mile-long legacy.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 30: Brent Harvey of the Kangaroos is chaired from the field after his record breaking 427th match by teammates Drew Petrie (left) and Michael Firrito (right) during the 2016 AFL Round 19 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the St Kilda Saints at Etihad Stadium on July 30, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

 

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