25: BARRY CABLE. North Melbourne's Barry Cable is a dual-premiership winning captain, Sandover medallist, but has never finished higher than 4th in the Brownlow rankings.

23: NORM SMITH. A premiership-winning player with Melbourne, Smith was honoured with the introduction of the Norm Smith medal in 1979, for the best player in a Grand final.

22: JONATHAN BROWN. Brisbane Lions player Brown is a two-time club best and fairest winner, two-time All Australian representative player and a Coleman Medallist. Picture: Patrick Hamilton

20. ROY CAZALY. Cazaly marks the ball up high in a photo from 1921. Cazaly is remembered for his incredible ability to take a mark over the heads of opponents, and the famous expression "Up there Cazaly".

18: DARREL BALDOCK. Baldock holds St Kilda's first ever VFL Premiership Cup after captaining the side in the Grand Final. Known as "the Doc", Baldock was named Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

16: STEPHEN SILVAGNI. Silvagni celebrates after Carlton's 1995 AFL Grand Final victory over Geelong in 1995. "SOS" Silvagni was named in both the AFL Team of the Century and Australian Football Hall of Fame. Picture: John Feder

15: JACK DYER. Jack "Captain Blood" Dyer shows his colours in a Richmond banner. Dyer was a legend of the Richmond club, and an icon to the working classes of the 1930s in Victoria for his tenacity on the field.

13: JOHN NICHOLLS. Nicholls and Graham "Polly" Farmer contest the ball in the air. Nicholls is famous as a ruckman, and as the captain who led Carlton to its notorious grand final victory over Collingwood in 1970.

12: ALEX JESAULENKO. Jesaulenko (R) and Carlton teammate Robert Kemp return to the sheds after a game in 1979, when Jesaulenko both captained and coached the team. In 1970 Jesaulenko became the first Carlton player to kick 100 goals in a season, and was part of the team that came back from 44-points behind to defeat Collingwood in the 1970 grand final.

11: JASON DUNSTALL. An emotional Dunstall is carried from the field by his Hawthorn teammates after playing the last game of his AFL career against the Fremantle Dockers in 1998. Dunstall is the third greatest goal-kicker of all time, behind Tony Lockett and Gordon Coventry. Picture: Darren Tindale

10: ROBERT ROSE. Robert 'Bob' Rose is regarded as one of Collingwood's greatest players, but was never named captain, and never finished higher than second (in 1953) in the Brownlow Medal votes. The AFL Players' Association's annual award for Most Courageous Player, struck in 1991, is named in his honour.

9: FRANCIS BOURKE. Bourke jokes with photographers in his first season with with Richmond in1967. Nicknamed 'St Francis', Bourke won five premierships, a place in the AFL Team of the Century, but never a Brownlow medal.

8: RON BARASSI. Ron Barassi ponders his last training session as coach of the Sydney Swans in 1995. Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a Legend.

7: GRAHAM 'POLLY' FARMER. Geelong legend Graham 'Polly' Farmer (L) and Ron Barassi at the launch of AFL's 100 Years Of Football book in 1996. Farmer played 101 games and captained the team for three seasons, before returning to Western Australia and leading West Perth Football Club as captain/coach to premierships against East Perth in 1969 and 1971. Pic. Graham Crouch

6: GORDON COVENTRY. Collingwood player Gordon Coventry is regarded as one of the greatest full forwards the game has ever seen, the first player to kick 100 goals in a season in 1929, the first to reach 300 games, and Collingwood's leading goalkicker every year from 1922 to 1937.

5: KEVIN BARTLETT. Kevin Bartlett (R) and Gary Dempsey, wearing 1897 uniforms, battle for the ball during the 1996 AFL Legends match at the MCG. Bartlett won five premierships with Richmond, and was named the club's best and fairest player five times. Picture: Ian Currie

4: WAYNE CAREY. Victorious captain Wayne Carey lifts up the Premiership Cup trophy after the North Melbourne Kangaroos defeat Carlton in the 1999 AFL grand final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 2001 he was named as centre-half forward and captain of North Melbourne's Team of the Century and in 2008 as Australian Football's greatest ever player as part of a list of the top 50 players of all time, published in the book 'The Australian Game of Football'. Picture: Joe Mann

3: TED WHITTEN. E J 'Ted' Whitten, OAM, is farewelled by teammates after his last game in 1970. Known as "Mr Football", Whitten was the first man to play 321 VFL games for Footscray, and was named as captain of the AFL Team of the Century.

2: GARY ABLETT, SNR. Geelong co-captain Gary Ablett, Snr, is surrounded by fans during 1995 AFL grand final parade through Melbourne streets. The Geelong legend was slected in the AFL Team of the Century, Geelong Football Club Team of the Century. Ablett holds the record for most goals in a Grand Final, with nine goals and one behind in 1989, and is the only player to have won the Coleman Medal and kicked 100 goals in three consecutive seasons. Picture: Ian Currie

1: LEIGH MATTHEWS. Leigh Matthews poses with the trophy after Hawthorn Football Club win the VFL Grand final in 1983. "Lethal Leigh" played for Hawthorn from 1969 to 1985, when Hawthorn toook home four VFL premierships. As a player he was voted the "Best player of the 20th century", has been inducted as a 'Legend' into the AFL Hall of Fame, and is on the Hawthorn and AFL Teams of the Century. Matthews is the player who has polled the most Brownlow votes in total without ever winning a Brownlow medal.