DURING the week, the 1989 Hawthorn premiership team was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

On announcing its inclusion, John Bertrand declared the Hawks the toughest football team of all time.

I was there on that day in '89 and remember Mark Yeates collecting Dermott Brereton at the first bounce.

I witnessed toughness as it happened.

To see Dermie get up and play the game out in obvious distress was classic viewing, and that has become an aspect of the game we all admire.

Amazingly, in the same game, there were equally tough actions, but it wasn't until the aftermath that we became aware of them.

A half-dozen players from each side were forced into hospital that night; the price paid was extreme.

Robert DiPierdomenico played out the game with broken ribs and a collapsed lung, John Platten played with severe concussion - and they are just the ones we know about.

This is what makes toughness so difficult to rate.

The toughest footballers don't show pain, discomfort or distress like other players might.

The toughest ones make it a habit to get on with business; they overcome constraints that would have others looking for a way out.

Tough players, in my view, have a single-minded focus to do whatever it takes to achieve the desired result: to win games of football.

To this end, nothing - and I mean nothing - gets in their way.

Physically, these players are rarely bowed, even when hampered by restrictions that would cut down most others.

Mentally, they are never beaten.

Every moment of the game is an opportunity to enforce their will on the contest.

And more often than not, they do.

The game's most recent model of toughness, one who was admired throughout the country for his unyielding qualities, retired last year: Glenn Archer.

He and Gavin "Rowdy" Brown are the toughest footballers I've played with or against and they displayed all the qualities I admire in a tough footballer.

Not surprisingly, Rowdy was Arch's hero as a kid.

In many ways, they were the mirror image of each other as footballers.

They played - and performed - with injury, consistently, and over a long period.

In this regard, playing with injury is the easy part; every footballer does.

Performing is the key.

They played physical, contested football, attacking the ball and the man with the ball with absolute ferocity every time.

They thrived on those isolated contests in every match that set the tone for their team: that 50-50 ground ball that doubles as a game of chicken, or the chance to go back with the flight to spoil or to mark.

They ran themselves to exhaustion and never gave in, no matter the situation of the game.

They never stayed down when they were hit.

Unless they were out cold, they were always up, ready to go, swallowing the pain and projecting an, "Is that the best you've got?", aura.

Critically, they did this over a long period.

Without the benefi t of time, it's impossible to judge the toughest from the merely tough.

Every player has displayed courage at some point, just as every player has felt fear.

The toughest make the hard choice in everything they do.

The game has changed over the past few decades, and the concept of toughness has changed with it.

In the '70s, it was the ability to keep your head over the ball while the opposition were preparing to knock it off.

These days, the threat of having your head knocked off is all but gone, but the toughest players still welcome the contested elements of the game and thrive in the fi ercest battles.

It's not that players are less tough as eras go by, but modern-day players have a different kind of toughness, in keeping with the evolution of the game.

It's about the will to compete.

Every player at the top level has an ability that sets them above others.

For some, it can be speed; for some, it's skills; for others, it's fi tness.

There are players in the competition who are there because they want to be good AFL footballers more than others; they have willed themselves to AFL standard despite "fl aws" in their game.

Often, the toughest players will come from this group because they feel they've got more invested, and they refuse to give it up without a fi ght.

When you combine toughness with natural ability, champions are made.

Allan Jeans said of his 1989 Hawks that they were people "who had great pride in themselves, great self-esteem, and above all else, great respect for the club and the jumper they wore".

That is evident in all of the toughest players in the game.

They acknowledge that pride and respect, and feel a sense of responsibility to their team and the people they represent.

Without that purpose and direction, such consistent individual sacrifi ce and investment is not possible.

Brown and Archer are gone.

So, too, are Michael Voss, Mark Ricciuto and the Scott brothers, Chris and Brad.

But there are others who are taking their mantle.

They are the toughest 10 in the game today.

THE universally admired "spiritual leader" of the Swans is as hard as they come.

His game revolves around unrelenting pressure and forcing a contest any time the ball is in his area.

He puts his body wherever it is needed to achieve that end and his ability to get his hands on the ball in the clinches or make a crucial tackle is elite.

When a game needs to be won, he finds a way.

Leads "the Bloods" by example.

LUKE HODGE

Hawthorn

THIS silky smooth mover balances his obvious natural talents with a mean streak.

It's no surprise to see him throw his body into a contest, then pop up at the end of a chain of handballs to kick a goal on his opposite foot.

Loves the physical aspect of the game and can find another gear when amatch is in the balance.

Tackles to hurt and can carry injuries through best-on-ground performances.

SCOTT BURNS

Collingwood

IT'S the quiet ones you have to watch out for! The no-nonsense Burns was brought up as a nuggety backman and was taught to earn every touch he got.

His fierce attack on the ball has always been a feature and if there is a body to hit on the way, he does.

Never fazed on the field, he is always cold and calculated in the heat of battle and when a game is in the balance, he generally wins the crucial contests.

BRAD SEWELL

Hawthorn

WATCHING this guy play recently, I thought tomyself that he is themost desperate player in the competition.

His intensity wins contests he has no right to win and he has made his name winning the hard ball time after time.

Filling the tagging role for the Hawks, Sewell loves the body-on-body work around stoppages and is non-stop in his application to the task for the team.

JONATHAN BROWN

Brisbane Lions

THE big man at the front for the Lions is as intimidating as he is tough.

Has carried injuries through themajority of the last three seasons (that we know of ) and has continued to perform regardless.

One of the few remaining players in the competition that has opponents wondering where he is.

His courage to continually go back with the flight with little regard for his wellbeing easily establishes him in this group.

LUKE BALL

St Kilda

I'VE never seen him take his eyes off the ball in a contest.

When the ball is in his area, he runs directly at it.

This focus has led him to be "beaten up" frequently since entering the league.

Whether in the air or on the ground, he puts his body on the line, absorbs all of the physicality and powers on.

One of the best tacklers in the league, he regularly brings down players much bigger than himself.

MICHAEL WILSON

Port Adelaide

I'VE always had the impression that this guy was indestructible.

He is held in the highest esteemfromwithin the ranks at Port and his physical intent in and around the contest is the reason why.

Strong and disciplined, Wilson can carry out any role required of his coach.

He relishes any chance he gets to lay a hard tackle or shepherd and continually throws his body into contests for his team.

CAMERON LING

Geelong

BUILT like a tank, Ling hits like one, too.

His strength in and around the contest is phenomenal and his tackling is first-class.

Not naturally endowed with speed or fitness, he has willed himself into AFL football and fulfils important roles for the Cats every week.

When he gets hit, he bounces straight up and has absorbed all the physical pressure that comes from an opposition side trying to free up its best ball-getter while getting the job done.

JAMES McDONALD

Melbourne

SOMETIMES, toughness can come from the most unlikely body shapes.

McDonald wouldn't be considered as a big frame but he continually puts his body in places others won't.

He is always up there in leading hardball gets, clearances and tackles, which are the domain of the toughest players.

Any time there is a chance to go, he goes, both in the air and on the ground and when he cops a good one, he's generally straight back into the action without a moment's hesitation.

BARRY HALL

 Sydney

THE big bad bustling tag doesn't come without reason.

Hall let himself down earlier this year with an act that was more cowardly than tough but it's out of character with what we normally see.

He is a massive unit who plays a physical game, winning contests in the air and on the ground, bursting through packs and tackles as he goes.

Plays on the edge and imposes himself in every game he plays.