OK, here's the scenario. We'll give you all 11,625 AFL players to choose from - although realistically that number is slashed considerably - but you still must select the top 50 players of all time.

Up for the challenge? More likely, you'd rather a Bex and a lie down after even pondering the thought.

Yet one who was up for the challenge and did complete that almighty task was highly respected Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan, who compiled his definitive all-time list in a beautiful new book The Australian Game of Football.

Sheahan is well practiced in top-50 projects, since his pre and post-season lists are published annually in the Herald Sun.

But even Sheahan was blown away by the magnitude of this project.

"My task was never going to be easy. I just didn't realise how tough it was. The consolation is so many understand the difficulty of the task," Sheahan said in The Australian Game of Football.

The football journalist of almost 40 years then laid out his criteria.

"… To be considered, a player had to be one who consistently, over a long period, influenced the direction of a game. He was, for season after season, a decisive player. Once that thought was embodied, it came down to comparisons: was 'A' better than 'B', and for what reason?" Sheahan said.

"I make no apologies that this list is of those who dominated in the VFL competition, and then the AFL, as I believe the Victorian competition always was a quasi-national competition. The game started in Victoria, and has been led from Victoria."

With Sheahan putting all of his cards on the table, it was then a matter of seeing who he named as the greatest footballer of all time.

It was none other than North Melbourne superstar and former Crow Wayne Carey.

Carey edged out Leigh Matthews (No.2), Ted Whitten (No.3), Gary Ablett (No.4), Jason Dunstall (No.5), Tony Lockett (No.6), John Nicholls (No.7), Graham Farmer (No.8), Kevin Bartlett (No.9) and Greg Williams (No.10) in Sheahan's top 10.

It's a formidable top 10 - whether you agree with it or not - but when you analyse it closely, Sheahan has clearly grouped it into four distinct areas.

The first consists of the players widely regarded as the out-and-out 'greatest' - Carey, Matthews and Whitten, who at various stages have been lauded as the No.1 player of all-time.

Arguments are sure to rage from those privileged to see the entire careers of this trio, in terms of who they actually believe was the best.  

There is no problem with bunching Ablett, Dunstall and Lockett together - it's just a matter of which order. That's the difficult part. In fact, some would go as far to say that one of those three players was better than Carey, Matthews and Whitten. Happy arguing!

Rating Nicholls followed by Farmer means Sheahan believes they are the game's two greatest ruckmen. Again, some such as John Newman believe Farmer is the best of all time, so the debate continues there.    

And rounding out the 'fourth' part of Sheahan's top 10 is the ball-winning/midfield talents of Bartlett and Williams. No problems there, although plenty would be pushing the claims of messrs Ian Stewart, Bob Skilton and Haydn Bunton Snr.

Delve deeper into Sheahan's compilation and it reveals some fascinating aspects.

Of players still on AFL lists, Sheahan named just one - dual St Kilda Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey (No.30), which meant arguably the two best players of today, Jonathan Brown and Chris Judd, were overlooked. Sheahan explained this decision.

"Both [Brown and Judd] clearly would be in the best 50 I have seen play for their impact on a game, but my 50 is determined by the depth of contribution, basically a level of excellence over an extended period - so not five great years, but total output over a career," Sheehan said.

Perhaps the most interesting addition to Sheahan's list is the fact he nominated Bill Hutchison (No.12) ahead of fellow Essendon legends Dick Reynolds (No.13), Simon Madden (No.17), James Hird (No.20) and John Coleman (No.22). Especially considering the Bombers named named Reynolds (No.1), Coleman (No.2), Hird (No.3), Hutchison (No.4) and Madden (No.5) respectively in their greatest all-time 25 in 2002.

Collingwood, which had no representatives in the AFL team of the century announced in 1996, ironically has the most inclusions - seven. The Pies are represented by Gordon Coventry (No.21), Syd Coventry (No.27), Nathan Buckley (No.34), Bob Rose (No.36), Dick Lee (No.37), Len Thompson (No.45) and Albert Collier (No.48).

On Buckley, his status as Collingwood's third greatest player and his positioning - 14 notches away from Hird - is also a debatable one. And for the record, Voss, who has generally been grouped with this duo, gained the highest positioning at No.19.

All clubs have been represented in Sheahan's list, except for Fremantle and Port Adelaide.

Of the team of the century members, only Bernie Smith and Keith Greig were excluded from Sheahan's list, as Roy Cazaly was the only Australian Football Hall of Fame member to also be overlooked.

Sheahan mentions plenty of names to miss out, including Mark Ricciuto, Simon Black, Craig Bradley, Harry Collier, Tim Watson, Paul Roos, Billy Goggin, Dermott Brereton, Robbie Flower, Les Foote, Jack Titus, Paul Kelly, Dean Kemp and John Schultz. But as he points out: "Go argue".

There is no doubt his list will surely achieve that.