A host of current day players and Premiership heroes feature in North Melbourne’s best team of the past 25 years, according to The Herald Sun.

The team, selected by journalist Jon Anderson and 1975 North Premiership player Sam Kekovich, names the best 22 to have played in the AFL era, that is, those who played from 1990 until today.

The team features seven of North Melbourne’s current playing list, with Scott Thompson, Daniel Wells, Todd Goldstein, Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Andrew Swallow and Jack Ziebell all named in the side, four of whom were named in the starting 18 (Thompson, Wells, Goldstein and Harvey).

Not surprisingly, the Denis Pagan coached Roos dominated the list, with the team tasting premiership glory in 1996 and 1999 in its own era of dominance.

“You could argue two premierships was at least one short although their success was achieved very much on a team ethos as distinct from the superstars that took them to six straight grand finals in the 1970s,” Anderson wrote.

Household names such as Wayne Carey, named captain, Glenn Archer and John Longmire all feature, however there were some notable omissions, with Darren Crocker, Leigh Colbert, Brady Rawlings and Sav Rocca among the names to miss out.

Naming a 22 was never going to be an task for the selectors, Kekovich said.

“What picking these teams can’t measure is the competitiveness, the hardness, the overall team factor that can make a difference,” he wrote.

“Is John Blakey a star half back like Guy McKenna? No, but he might do just as good a job of closing his man down.”

For Kekovich, while looking into the past may have been an enjoyable task, he made no secret of what he wanted to see from the current day squad.

“What I want to see as a North man are players like Ziebell and (Ben) Cunnington take the next step and become fair dinkum guns, rather than having a good game or good year here and there.”

Have your say on the team below.

NORTH MELBOURNE’S TEAM OF THE AFL ERA

B: David King Mick Martyn Glenn Archer
HB: John Blakey Scott Thompson Byron Pickett
C: Wayne Schwass Adam Simpson Daniel Wells
HF: Shannon Grant Wayne Carey (captain) Craig Sholl
F: Peter Bell John Longmire Corey McKernan
R: Todd Goldstein Anthony Stevens Brent Harvey
I: Drew Petrie Andrew Swallow Brett Allison Jack Ziebell
Coach: Denis Pagan