Everyone was doing it, and I just wanted to be popular, but the reality of picking the AFL’s top 50 players was a much more difficult exercise than I expected.

Some damn good (and a few of my favourite) players didn’t make the cut.

As with The Roar Experts’ top 50, suspended Bombers were not considered.

Quick criteria: line them up against a wall for 2016, who do you want?

That’s enough preamble…

50. Stephen Hill (Fremantle)
49. Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
Two players perfectly suited to the vast expanses of Subiaco – metres-gained kings. Hill is more likely to tear a game open, Gaff is more consistent, both have freak endurance. Outside players of their class are more valuable than ever.

48. Jesse Hogan (Melbourne)
47. Tom Lynch (Gold Coast)
A pair of young power forwards who are going to deny key defenders sleep for years to come. Both contested-marking beasts, Lynch gets the slight edge, because at 23 (Hogan is 21) he should be closer to his prime. You couldn’t go wrong with either of them.

46. Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
It’s strange to think of Tom Hawkins as a veteran, but at 27 that label certainly fits now. Some questions about whether he’s less suited to the modern game, but in a down year in 2015 he still booted 46 goals in 19 games and was a one-on-one monster.

45. Drew Petrie (North Melbourne)
44. Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
A pair of veteran key forwards who were born just two days apart. Petrie is still as solid as they come and has a bit more versatility than the three forwards listed above.

Riewoldt is still a star whenever he can get on the park, one of the best players of his generation, he’d be higher if not for doubts about his body.

43. Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions)
Tough as nails, finds loads of footy, and is a tackling machine. Not damaging enough to be considered with the elite midfielders – his reputation is slightly inflated by his output in fantasy football – but he’s a very good player. Like that he has a bit of an edge.

42. Heath Shaw (GWS)
41. Harry Taylor (Geelong)
Similar players at different sizes. Both are excellent defensively one-on-one and in terms of reading the play. Both are damaging with the ball in their hands. Taylor gets the slight edge because he can play on a wider range of opponents.

40. Dane Swan (Collingwood)
39. Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
Modern-day greats still playing at a high level. Dane Swan’s greatness is exemplified by the way everyone shrugged at his 2015 season, during which he averaged a lazy 29 disposals, 5.6 clearances and a goal a game.

Even at 37, Harvey is probably North’s second-best player and one of the game’s best ball users. Boomer still averaged 23 disposals and a goal a game in 2015.

38. Dustin Martin (Richmond)
37. Luke Shuey (West Coast)
Like the elder pair before them, Martin and Shuey are goalkicking midfielders. Martin is capable of changing the course of a game in a few minutes. Shuey, though, is one of the league’s most underrated, and complete, midfielders. Damaging inside, outside and kicks goals. He’s a gun.

36. Dylan Shiel (GWS)
The best midfielders win the ball in contested situations and clear the congestion and deliver the ball into dangerous situations. Shiel has those qualities. Wins his own footy, has great pace and excellent skills. A Brownlow smoky.

35. Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)
34. Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs)
The two best medium-tall forwards in the game. Both are brilliant when the ball hits the deck. Gunston is better in the air and a better kick for goal (even allowing for last year’s drop off). Stringer is more versatile has a bucketload of x-factor.

33. Eddie Betts (Adelaide)
32. Chad Wingard (Port Adelaide)
Two of the best small forwards in footy. Both are capable or taking over a game. Betts booted 63 goals last year, Wingard 53. Wingard is better in the air and wins more of the footy.

31. Jeremy Cameron (GWS)
Cameron kicked 63 goals last year, including multiples 18 times in 22 games. Probably needs to win a bit more of the footy if he’s to take his game to the next level, but is already a star.

30. Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
29. Callan Ward (GWS)
Good luck splitting these two. Both as tough as nails. Both win plenty of the footy. Both make players around them stand taller. Put them in whatever order you like.

28. Dan Hannebery (Sydney)
Some will argue this is too low for the reigning Coaches Association player of the year, and that might be fair. Runs all day, is tough, and wins loads of the footy. Don’t let the ratio of contested to uncontested possession fool you, he does his share of the tough stuff.

27. Dayne Beams (Brisbane Lions)
Not many midfielders as complete as this guy. A beast at the coalface who can do damage on the outside and kicks goals. Would be much higher if not for the fact he so regularly misses games through injury. Elite.

26. Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)
One of my great frustrations is that Rioli is so often credited for his skills and athleticism and almost never for his work rate – which is awesome. A nightmare to match up on one-on-one, he is one of the best defensive and one of the best offensive forwards.

Took the grand final apart. If you don’t get it by now, I can’t help you.

25. Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle)
A dominant tap ruckman and an immovable object. A big part of the reason the Dockers are the best stoppage team in the game.

24. Josh Gibson (Hawthorn)
The best medium-tall defender and one of the best zone-off players around. Like seemingly all Hawks, he uses the ball well. Twice a best and fairest in a premiership team is mighty impressive.

23. Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
The Bulldogs’ best player is already a dominant stoppage player and a damaging ball user. Needs to win a bit more of the footy to take the next step, but has all the tools to be the game’s best player.

22. Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
Refer to Boak and Ward, only he does most things a little better than that pair. Will learn a lot more about him without Patty Dangerfield alongside him, but he wins enough of his own footy that he should be fine.

21. Matt Priddis (West Coast)
20. Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
Two of the game’s most prolific ball-winners. If there’s dirty work to be done, these guys will do it. Neither are great by foot, but that’s okay – if they were, they’d be 15 spots higher.

19. Luke Parker (Sydney)
I assume this is the one I’ll cop the most grief for. If he can improve his kicking, he could be the next Jimmy Bartel, while for midfielders only Fyfe is better in the air.

The rare inside beast who kicks goals. A shame he was injured last year and didn’t get the opportunity to add to his impressive finals resume.

18. Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
The most powerful athlete in footy – perhaps ever – his dominance at the stoppages is almost unrivalled. His tap work is brilliant, and good luck stopping him if he decides to take the footy for himself and run clear of the congestion. One of the few No.1 ruckmen who hits the scoreboard.

17. Brett Deledio (Richmond)
Perhaps the AFL’s most complete player, Deledio could be a star on the ball, on the wing, dashing out of defence, or where the Tigers have chosen to deploy him: in the forward line. Clean hands on the ground and in the air, tough, skilful and still with great pace.

16. Joel Selwood (Geelong)
Probably too high based solely on last season, but if anyone deserves credits for past performance, it’s the Cats’ inspirational leader. A top ten (at least) player if he can recapture his 2014 form.

15. Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
Mitchell has been a great player for a long, long time. Brilliant in close and in space due to his exceptional footwork and awareness. There have been some great two-sided players, but Mitchell might be the cleanest I’ve seen on both feet. An all-time great at a club littered with all-time greats.

14. David Mundy (Fremantle)
The new Fremantle skipper is coming off the best season of his career. Set career-highs in disposals, contested possessions and clearances. At 192 centimetres and 90 kilograms, he’s a load in close and damaging by foot in the clear.

13. Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
12. Taylor Walker (Adelaide)
11. Josh Kennedy (West Coast)
You couldn’t go wrong with any of these guys – all are great at winning the footy in the most dangerous part of the ground, and terrific finishers when they get their chance.

Riewoldt’s 378 goals since 2010 is second only to Lance Franklin. Josh Kennedy gets the slight edge because of his habit of kicking huge bags.

10. Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne)
The game’s most complete ruckman, Goldstein is almost another midfielder around the ground. I doubt he’d take it as any consolation, but he comfortably took the points in his match-up with Naitanui in last year’s preliminary final.

9. Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
Gray is the complete package as an onballer and is equally adept anytime he moves forward due to his exceptional reading of the play – the interchange cap could make him even more damaging if spends more time ‘resting’ forward. Knows where the goals are, with 67 in the past two seasons.

8. Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)
It’s not just that Hodge is tough and courageous, he’s also versatile and seriously talented. Capable of having an effect on the game in any part of the ground due to his strength one-on-one, ability to zone and intercept, and a lethal left leg.

7. Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
The new Cat is an unstoppable force around the footy with the ability to burst into space with his speed and power. Rarely plays a bad game and is dangerous forward of centre.

6. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
The Collingwood skipper is a model of consistency at an incredibly high level. No player looks more composed in heavy traffic. Rarely makes a bad decision and has the skills to match.

5. Alex Rance (Richmond)
Defending in the modern game is about so much more than just negating your man – which Rance does well anyway. With so much scoring generated from turnovers, players who can create turnovers and launch scoring attacks are worth their weight in gold. Rance is in a league of his own as a player who defends well and triggers attacking thrusts.

4. Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn)
I must admit, I’ve spent a lot of time scratching my head with Roughead’s place in several rankings recently. It’s as though his versatility is being held against him. His goals dropped from 75 in 2014 as he moved up the ground more to average a career-high 19.3 disposals while still booting 50 goals (tied for 10th in the league). Dangerous one-out, brilliant below his knees and dangerous at the stoppages. He’s a superstar.

3. Lance Franklin (Sydney)
The game’s premier forward for going on a decade. Had a down year by his lofty standards in 2015, which it’s reasonable to assume was due to matters beyond football.

Like Selwood, he gets the benefit of the doubt. Unstoppable on his day.

2. Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
Thirty disposals, 14 contested possessions, 17 tackles (17!), nine clearance and three goals. That was Gary Ablett’s Round 16 effort against GWS last season, a week before he suffered a season-ending injury against the Crows. Concerns about his health are the only reason he’s not one spot higher – he’s capable of getting to a level no one else can.

1. Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
A one-man wrecking ball at the contest, a near-impossible match-up when he moves forward, great in the air, great on the ground, impossible to knock off the ball.

Had 24 disposals, 16 contested possessions and nine clearances in a preliminary final… with a broken leg … and he’s only 24.