The four-time premiership coach with Essendon and three-time premiership player with Richmond was the obvious choice as selector for the Bendigo Jockey Club when it decided to honour Bendigo's greatest football products at this month's Golden Mile Raceday.

It started as Kevin Sheedy's best 22 players to come out of the Bendigo Football League to play in the VFL/AFL.

However, once Sheedy started his research he knew he had to make changes to the criteria.

"Firstly, it's incredible to think that one region could produce so many iconic players,'' Sheedy said this week.

"The talent to come out of the Bendigo district over a long period of time has been amazing.

"I wanted to start with the legends first and that's why I'm starting with the centre square.

"I idolised John Nicholls and Ron Barassi and they must be in this team."

Barassi and Nicholls didn't play in the Bendigo Football League.

Barassi grew up in Guildford near Castlemaine before going on to have one of the most outstanding careers in VFL/AFL history with Melbourne and Carlton.

Carlton great Nicholls was from Maryborough, but the Magpies weren't in the BFL when Nicholls was at the club.

"I know they didn't play in the Bendigo league, but they are from the Bendigo district,'' Sheedy said.

"I don't think we should be technical and say that Ron Barassi and John Nicholls didn't play senior football in the Bendigo league.

"I've overruled the rules because it would be ludicrous not to have legends like Ron Barassi and John Nicholls in this team.

"We're talking about talent that has come out of the central Victoria area and Ron and John are two of the greatest players to have played the game.

"They must be in the team. We need to tell the real story of all the great talent that has come out of the Bendigo district.

"If Ron Barassi comes out of a little town near Castlemaine and John Nicholls comes out of a town like Maryborough...from my point of view that's the Bendigo district. It's not Ballarat.

"I want to pick the best talent out of the region and those two must be put in."

With that the team has now become Kevin Sheedy's best 24 players out of the Bendigo district.

Sheedy has also removed playing in the VFL/AFL as a criteria.

"I'm going to have a migraine by the time I finish this team,'' Sheedy said.

"It's not until you sit down and have a really good look at it that you realise that there are so many great players to try and fit in. There's going to be some very unlucky players who miss out."

The first area of the ground Sheedy wanted to focus on - the centre square.

"It's the most powerful centre square that any country region in Australia could produce,'' Sheedy said.

"John Nicholls, Ron Barassi, Dustin Martin and Greg Williams all in the centre square - good luck trying to beat them for a centre clearance."

DOB: August 13, 1939

From: Maryborough

VFL club: Carlton

VFL games: 328

Highlights: Carlton premiership captain 1968, 1970

Carlton premiership captain-coach 1972

Australian Football Hall of Fame inaugural legend 1996

AFL Team of the Century

Carlton Team of the Century

Sheedy says: "Alongside Simon Madden, John Nicholls is the greatest ruckman I've ever seen. Polly Farmer never played 100 games for Geelong, so I saw more of Nicholls and Madden than I did Farmer.

"You have to remember that John wasn't that tall as a ruckman, but he was an inspirational player and captain."

DOB: June 26, 1991

From: Castlemaine

AFL club: Richmond

AFL games: 224

Highlights: AFL premiership player: 2017, 2019

Norm Smith Medal: 2017, 2019

Brownlow Medal: 2017

Leigh Matthews Trophy: 2017

All-Australian team: 2016, 2017, 2018

Jack Dyer Medal: 2016, 2017

Sheedy says: "I love Dusty's stiff-arm prop. When he puts his arm out like that no-one can touch him. He's a sensational midfielder and forward. We haven't seen him as a running half-back flanker yet.

"People go to the football to watch Dustin Martin - that's the sign of a champion."

DOB: February 27, 1936

From: Guildford

VFL clubs: Melbourne, Carlton

VFL games: 254

Highlights: VFL Premiership player: 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964

VFL Premiership coach: 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977

All-Australian team: 1956, 1958, 1961

AFL Team of the Century

Australian Football Hall of Fame - Legend status

Sheedy says: "Barassi was just dynamic when I was growing up. Often you'd go to watch Essendon play Melbourne and it was a case of Essendon playing Barassi. That's how good he was.

"Think of the modern day champions like Ablett and Carey... that was Barassi in his era."

DOB: September 30, 1963

From: Golden Square

AFL clubs: Geelong, Sydney, Carlton

AFL games: 250

Highlights: AFL Premiership player: 1995

Brownlow Medal: 1986, 1994

Norm Smith Medal: 1995

AFL Team of the Century

Australian Football Hall of Fame

Carlton Team of the Century

Sydney Team of the Century

All-Australian team: 1986, 1987

Sheedy says: "I gave him headaches. I tagged him every game I could. I set up taggers to try and shut him out and wrap his hands. I've never known a champion to be so slow by foot, but be so fast by thought.

"He had the best hands and he had a great vision of the landscape around him. He knew where every player was at a stoppage and where every player was outside the stoppage. Talking to John Elliott and John Nicholls and they rate Greg Williams as one of the very best players Carlton had. Just remember Carlton rejected him in the first place before he went on tour to Geelong and Sydney."

.........................................

The next group of players in Sheedy's team will be announced next Friday.

The 24 players selected in Sheedy's team will be recognised at the Golden Mile Raceday on Saturday, March 28.

The Golden Mile Raceday is one of the feature sporting events of the year in Bendigo.

All AFL club members will receive complimentary admission to Golden Mile Raceday.

The Golden Mile Raceday is also a full reciprocal race meeting for members of Victorian country and metropolitan clubs.

The feature standalone race meeting has increased prizemoney to more than $1.1 million this year.

Free return buses from Ballarat, Benalla, Echuca, Stawell and Swan Hill will be on offer to the public.

Tickets for Golden Mile Raceday are already on sale at country.racing.com/bendigo

All bookings made before March 10 will automatically be entered into a draw to win a TCL television valued at $800.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.