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 he to Arden Street to separate the the wheat from the Roos' chaff.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS, LIONS, BLUES, PIES, BOMBERS, DOCKERS, CATS, SUNS, GIANTS, HAWKS, DEES
1 x All-Australian (2002)
149 games, 13.6 disposals per game, 3.1 rebound 50s per game
Despite reaching his peak as a footballer in the 1990s', it should surprise few that the Shinboner of the 20th Century has earned a nod here too.
While never the most skilled footballer in blue and white bars, few wanted it more than Archer, who would throw himself carelessly at every loose ball he could find.
With his son Jackson now on the Roos' roster, the Archer legacy lives on at Arden Street.
2 x best and fairest (2017 and 2018)
1 x All-Australian (2018)
His stay as a Shinboner may have only been brief, but in the six seasons that Higgins called North home, the midfielder produced the best football of his career.
Whether in the centre of the ground or occasionally floating forward, the Geelong Falcons product proved more than handy, averaging a sublime 27.4 disposals per game throughout his 2018 All-Australian campaign.
2 x best and fairest (2011 and 2013)
243 games, 19.4 disposals per game, 70 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
On his day, few could match Wells' athleticism and accuracy, with the Western Australian always sitting high on the opposition's 'must-stop' list.
While injuries interrupted what could well have been a wildly successful career, Wells' highlight reel remains well-worn by Roo boys and girls everywhere.
3 x best and fairest (2009, 2011 and 2012)
224 games, 20.7 disposals per game, 78 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
During several seasons in which North played a part in the September action, Swallow led from the front, getting his hands dirty in the guts and serving his forwards brilliantly.
While underrated outside of the four walls on Arden Street, the former captain's trifecta of Syd Barker Medals act as the gild to a more-than-solid career.
3 x best and fairest (2004, 2006 and 2010)
232 games, 18.4 disposals per game
Unflinching and always on task, Rawlings would walk over broken glass if it meant four points for his Roos.
Remembered as one of the best taggers of his generation, the Tasmanian was also adept at finding the ball, averaging north of 28 disposals per game in his penultimate season as a Shinboner.
As the club's current list boss, Rawlings continues to work tirelessly to forge a list good enough to bring a fifth flag back to Arden Street.
4 x leading goalkicker (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019)
130 games, 287 goals, 2.2 goals per game
Made to wait before earning his blue and white stripes as a mature-age selection, Brown announced himself as a key forward threat in his second season, slotting 32 goals in 22 starts.
From then on, the Tasmanian would prove potent, bagging 229 goals in the four-season stretch between 2016 and 2019, averaging 2.6 majors each week.
While Brown has been derided for his long run-up, it worked for the big man during his time as a Roo, with the curly-haired spearhead converting at better than 67 per cent before goal.
2 x best and fairest (2014 and 2019)
238 games, 21.6 disposals per game, 5.7 clearances per game, 4.6 tackles per game, 71 Brownlow votes, 0.3 votes per game
Never had the cliches of 'harder than nails' or 'lead by example' been more befitting than when applied to Ben Cunnington.
Far too tough to have frills, and far too focused to worry about the why, for 14 seasons, the country boy put his head down and got to work, sometimes dragging the Roos across the line almost on his lonesome.
While never an All-Australian or a premiership player, Cunnington is royalty at Arden Street, make no shinbones about that.
1 x best and fairest (2015)
1 x All-Australian (2015)
315 games, 31.2 hitouts per game
Scan the ever-widening V/AFL history books and you will find that no player in the history of the competition with more hitouts than Goldstein.
Originally brought through the door with the 37th pick of the 2006 AFL Draft, Goldstein developed into an absolute dynamo at stoppages, becoming the first player with more than 1000 hitouts in a single season, a marker he beat during his sole All-Australian season in 2015.
While no longer a part of the Roos' huddle, Goldstein's name will be impossible to avoid mentioning when tomorrow's historians converge to update North's own annals.
5 x leading goalkicker (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015)
1 x All-Australian (2011)
316 games, 428 goals, 1.35 goals per game
It may have taken Petrie some time to truly announce himself as an offensive threat, but between 2011 and 2015, the Ballarat native was a force to be reckoned with, slotting 246 goals at a clip of better than two a week.
Although never the leading forward in league circles, North fans will remember for forever and a day the evening that Petrie went full 'Frank the Tank' to knock arch-rivals Essendon out of the 2014 finals.
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.