Sometimes players such as Chris Judd and Joel Selwood explode onto the scene. Others, like Dane Swan and Gary Ablett, gradually progress to stardom.
And then there are those who even need a change of club to merely survive as AFL footballers.
These fall into two categories. Occasionally a second-club player is recruited. More often they are voluntarily traded by their first club or are given a spot as a fill-in hopeful.
And every now and again a bargain-basement pickup becomes a key player in a grand final team. Like this year, with Collingwood and St Kilda having one apiece.
The football journeys of Magpie forward/ruckman Leigh Brown and St Kilda full back Zac Dawson have been punctuated by setbacks. But this pair will play critical roles in Saturday's premiership decider.
Collingwood is the quickest, most energetic team in the competition because it has speed in 22 positions.
Brown is not the quickest player in the Magpie team, but compared to his ruck opponents he is lightning.
The ruck relief he gives Darren Jolly is giving Collingwood terrific balance.
His ruck work is strong and competitive, which complements his recent performances as a very effective third tall forward.
Brown's half-forward contribution means both the Magpie ruckmen spend most of the game on the field at the same time.
This gives them more runners on interchange - a vital ingredient in Collingwood's overall superior athletic look averaged over their entire 22.
St Kilda, by comparison, have three movers of normal ruck standard - full-forward Justin Koschitzke, and ruckmen Michael Gardiner and Ben McEvoy, ruckmen who alternate off interchange.
The poor mobility of this trio means the Saints will concede a big head-start in average team running power.
Having an effective backup ruckman who can earn his keep in another position is a great asset, just as Anthony Rocca was for Collingwood earlier this decade.
A few of Brown's numbers in the preliminary final emphasise his value. He had 15 disposals - he can find the footy. He had two contested marks - he is strong overhead. And he had seven tackles - his ground-level second-efforts are terrific.
And over his last three matches he has averaged a couple of goals a game.
Something of a football journeyman at his first club - Fremantle - and then in his 118-game stint at North Melbourne, Brown has now become a key contributor to the premiership favourites.
What enormous investment value for the Magpies, who devoted a lowly pick 73 for him a couple of years ago after he was delisted by the Kangaroos.
Not many would regard Zac Dawson as a football weapon. But any player who can effectively hold down the full back position in a good team is extremely valuable. And that's what Dawson does at St Kilda.
The Bulldogs - and in particular their full-forward Barry Hall - stood between the Saints and their second consecutive grand final last Saturday night. But Dawson was equal to the challenge.
The ability of St Kilda's team defence to block Hall's leading lanes was helpful, but the individual spoiling role fell to Dawson. He kept Hall to four marks and more than won the duel.
Dawson is ungainly, and only ever looks a moment or two away from a bad error. But he keeps getting the job done by knowing his limitations and not letting his ambitions take precedence over his capabilities.
His ability to take the opposition's big full-forward allows Sam Fisher and Sam Gilbert to play as attacking loose-checking floating defenders.
I suspect Steven Silvagni, Saints assistant coach and AFL Team of the Century full back, has been of great assistance in teaching Dawson the intricacies playing the high-pressure key-defender position.
After struggling through 14 games at Hawthorn, being delisted and then picked up as a second-chance rookie by the Saints, Dawson has become a permanent fixture in a very good team.
On Saturday, Brown is little chance and Dawson no chance of winning a Norm Smith Medal.
The game-breakers are more likely to be match-winners like Dane Swan, Alan Didak and Scott Pendlebury, or Nick Riewoldt, Brendon Goddard and Lenny Hayes.
Brown and Dawson represent the majority - the role-players - although that might be underrating Brown's recent form.
Certainly, this group's ability to perform their functions will provide the structure and stability on which team performance is built.
All logic points to a Collingwood win. The Magpies' form, fitness and emotional calmness makes them look so much more in the zone.
Their now-hallmark swarm of black-and-white jumpers continually dominates the contest, the tackling pressure and the attacking spread.
It will take a big Nick Riewoldt special of a major intervention from the footy gods for the Saints to have any chance of overcoming the Magpie juggernaut.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
