Ranking players always creates heated debate and I undertook the challenge to name North’s best 20 players since the year 2000 with a sense of trepidation.

Over the coming days, I’ll release my list and there’ll be five players per day starting with five honourable mentions.

But before I get started, here are some basic numbers for you to consider:

1. 131 players have pulled on the blue and white stripes since the start of the 2000 season.
2. Of those 131, 49 have played more than 50 games.
3. 26 have played more than 100 games.

Given the start point is 2000, it rules out Wayne Carey. 37 games is not enough to qualify in my opinion.

While Carey would be the first player picked in the majority of lists, this one is purely based on output from 2000 to 2013. Despite his 37 games producing 104 goals, it struggles to hold up to the records of the top 20 players, many featuring more than 70 or 80 games played.

Carey’s goals total was also inflated by his quality 2000. Excluding his injury-hit 1997, 2001 saw his lowest goals-per-game average since 1992.
The disparity of two full seasons worth of games was too much to overcome.

Now in no particular order, my five honourable mentions are:

Nathan Thompson

A two-time leading goal kicker for North, Thompson was the number one forward for almost his entire time at the club.

With more than 50 goals in 2005 and 2006, it demonstrated his reliability. His importance was illustrated by the reaction to the knee injury which ruled him out of the 2007 season. External observers believed the loss of Thompson would condemn the Roos to a bottom four finish.

Thompson holds the record for the most goals kicked in the number 23 jumper.

Leigh Harding

Arguably the toughest omission from the top 20, Harding was a forward pocket for much of his career. An ACL injury which forced him to miss the entire 2007 season saw a position change for the former number 39.

Returning in 2008 as a half back flanker, Harding played out the final three years of his career from the defensive half. In all, he played 141 games for North between 2001 and 2010.

Jack Ziebell

Already afforded cult-like status amongst North supporters, Ziebell would have most likely been inside the top 20 if it wasn’t for the interrupted start to his career. Broken legs in each of his first two seasons limited his fitness base.

Ziebell’s 2013 showed just what he will produce in the coming seasons, with inspirational passages of play and crucial goals at vital times.

David Hale

Hale spent eight years at North from 2003 to 2010, playing 127 games. He started as a ruckman but as time went on, he spent more minutes in the forward 50.

The emergence of Hamish McIntosh and Todd Goldstein, coupled with a willingness to play Drew Petrie as a key forward, led to a diminished role towards the end of Hale’s time at the club.

His departure to Hawthorn in a trade netted Kieran Harper and Ben Mabon.

Hamish McIntosh

Much like Hale, McIntosh is another whose time at North started strongly. Establishing himself in the senior side during 2006, McIntosh kicked on with an impressive 2007. He played all 25 games and was a large part of the club’s charge to a preliminary final.

While he played 42 of a possible 44 games in 2009-10, the emergence of Todd Goldstein slowly reduced his time in the ruck. Injuries then took their toll, restricting McIntosh to just eight games over the course of 2011 and 2012.

Tomorrow: 16-20