Nigel Lappin - Brisbane, 1993, 279 games

The shortlist: Luke Ball (St Kilda, 2001, 223 games), Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn, 2004, 231 games), Trent Cotchin (Richmond, 2007, 153 games)

The outcome of this selection could be considered a microcosm of the larger debate about the greatest team of the modern era.

The Brisbane Lions of the early 2000s and the current Hawthorn team both have a horse in that race, and they had the two favourites in this one, too.

It was incredibly hard to split Lappin and Roughead - one of the hardest decisions of the entire countdown, and there have been many.

Every time you leant one way, another thought would pull you back the other. Lappin's longevity - he has played 48 more games than Roughead - was a key factor but not everything.

Career Brownlow votes - although they tend to always favour the midfielder - was another measure, but equally as important, best-and-fairest finishes in champion teams.

Lappin edged Roughead on both scores, earning 31 more Brownlow votes as well as a best-and-fairest in 2004 - the year the Lions made a grand final - second-place finishes twice, and a third-place finish once.

Roughead is yet to win a best-and-fairest, but has a runner-up in a premiership year (2013) and a third-place in another (2014).

Lappin was All-Australian in the Lions "three-peat" in 2001-2003, as well as 2004, however Roughead was also All-Australian in flag years - '13 and '14.

The fact that Lappin became a captain of the Lions was another key - an honour Roughead is yet to receive but could do in the future.

That was the case for Lappin that proved compelling, but there would be many Hawthorn supporters reading this and saying "yeah, but...", and they would have plenty to finish that sentence with.

"Yeah, but..." Roughead won a Coleman Medal in the 2013 premiership year.

"Yeah, but..." Roughead is a far most versatile player, which arguably makes him more valuable to the team, as he can play ruck, key forward, key defender and anywhere in between.

"Yeah but..." Roughead has been a star player in four premiership teams, compared to Lappin's three.

They could go on and on, and their opinion would not necessarily be wrong - just different to this countdown.

All things considered, pick No.2 has been a successful selection for clubs.

Setting the bar for a "hit" at 150 games, there have been 17 players reach that mark between 1986 and 2009, with players from that point onwards exempt.

Aside from Lappin and the short-list, the other "hits" have been, Chris McDermott (1987), Matthew Croft (1989), Anthony Rocca (1994), Matthew Primus (1995), Chris Heffernan (1996), Brad Ottens (1997), Paul Hasleby (1999), Justin Koschitzke (2000), Luke Ball (2001), Daniel Wells (2002), Andrew Walker (2003), Dale Thomas (2005) and Trent Cotchin (2007).

West Coast star Nic Naitanui (2008) has only played 131 games, but he would also sit easily with those other players as a "hit".

A noticeable trend from that bunch is the high percentage of key-position players and rucks, the highest rate from any of the top 10 selections.