Todays guest post comes from Liam Quinn at BackPageLead.com.au

The term superstar gets bandied around far too often in the AFL.

String together a few 30 plus possession games - superstar. Turn in one spectacular season - elite. The undue haste in which the footballing public, and media, spring forward to crown a very good player a 'great', and to begin preparations for their pending Hall of Fame induction, can be grating indeed.

Having said all that, I've set about the task of sorting the wheat from the chaff and identifying those players who do make the top-tier cut. There are literally dozens of very, very good players that the case could be made for, so a strict set of criteria was needed.

For those playing along at home, a premiership doesn't make a player elite, although it can certainly help - considering the circumstances. Neither does playing in excess of 250 games; that's a sign of incredible durability and longevity, not greatness - however, greatness isn't earned in a season or two, so players need a few notches under their belt.

In a similar fashion, Brownlow medals aren't a sure indicator of greatness, with a raft of other factors - teammate quality, one-hit wonder seasons - playing a role in who walks away Charlie each year. Further, the line had to be established between club greats and great players. No one would argue that Dustin Fletcher, Brent Harvey and Lenny Hayes aren't champion players for their respective clubs, but whether any of the aforementioned trio ever crossed over into elite territory is very much up for debate.

And, finally, for any player to be considered a superstar they must be untouchable to their club, in terms of trade value. To clarify, that means that their straight swap could tempt another club into parting with their superstar, unless it was another one of these elite players.

After meticulously poring over the candidates, and consulting with many a would-be expert beyond BPL's walls, a quartet of players undoubtedly made the cut: Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury, Lance Franklin and Matthew Pavlich.

The inclusion of Ablett and Pendlebury is about as automatic as it gets, with the majority of those polled listing the pair as the competition's premier players. Despite being fundamentally very different midfielders - Ablett is more of a prolific possession getter and Pendlebury something of a puppeteer controlling the game - you'd be hard pressed to find any better. Consider their tickets punched.

The mass of support for Pavlich was somewhat surprising, even though it is well deserved, considering the majority of the AFL media's aversion for anything outside of Victoria. Despite being in his 30s, Pav continues to stave off father time, operating at a level that few can match. It's amazing to think of how differently he would be viewed had he plied his trade in Melbourne.

The fourth choice - the Ringo of the group, if you will - interestingly generated the most debate amidst fans. The overwhelming majority of the selection panel gave Buddy the nod, yet a large proportion also insisted that he had yet to fulfil his enormous potential. Yet, despite failing to max out, Franklin still belongs in such an exclusive fraternity at the game's summit.
As is the case with any such restrictive list, there's bound to be a collection of players unlucky to miss out, among them Dane Swan, Chris Judd, Adam Goodes, Jobe Watson, Dean Cox and Trent Cotchin.

With that in mind, there's a fifth, unfilled spot on the ticket.
In the comments below, make the case for any player you feel is deserving of a guernsey, or if perhaps our initial four aren't considered deserving.

I'm sure there will be some discussion on Pav here, and I've always been a big fan, so the votes are in, Pav is No. 3 and we're looking for who fills out the 5th. What do we reckon? (Or yanno, hit us with your top 5.)