When it comes to debating who the greatest VFL/AFL players of all time are, Hawthorn legend Gary Ayres has a unique insight.

Not only is the five-time Hawks premiership defender and AFL Hall of Fame member a highly-credentialled and well-respected figure, he also has first-hand experience of the superstars who feature prominently in the debate.

Gary Ablett Senior and Junior? Leigh Matthews? Wayne Carey? As a player or coach, Ayres has rubbed shoulders with them all.

He played three VFL games with Ablett Snr in 1982, his only season at Hawthorn before his career took off at Geelong.

Ayres never really had to play on the mercurial Cats forward but he had a front-row seat at The Ablett Show on a few memorable occasions.

“I’ve been in close proximity to him in games where he has absolutely taken the opposition apart,” Ayres told AAP.

“In the 1989 grand final when he kicked nine goals … the things that he was doing and the influence he had were just enormous.

“You could always sense that he had a different gear to go to than a normal footballer could.

“Then I had the good fortune to coach him and in my first season at the Cats in 1995 he kicked 122 goals.”

It was during his Geelong coaching tenure, from 1995 to 1999, that Ayres got his first glimpse of what Gary Ablett Jnr could do on a footy field.

“He and his brother would quite often be kicking the ball around in the muddy goal square as kids, then there would be messy footprints up to the kitchen where they’d raid the biscuit tin,” Ayres laughs.

Ayres was coaching Adelaide by the time Ablett Jnr embarked on his AFL career with the Cats.

“He wasn’t at his best when I coached against him in the early 2000s but you could see what he was going to grow into even then,” he says.

“He’s different to his father in that he had endurance to go into the midfield, but his skills and his ability to be ahead of most players in his decision making are similar to his father.”

When Ayres won the first of his five flags in 1983, Matthews captained the side and kicked six goals to help secure his fourth grand-final win.

Ayres has the utmost respect for Matthews, whose leadership had a profound effect on his career.

When his first finals campaign with the Hawks in 1982 was about to end in a preliminary final defeat to Carlton, Ayres was still able to learn from Matthews.

“I guess I’d dropped the bottom lip and was thinking about what could’ve been,” Ayres says.

“There were only about five minutes left, but Leigh certainly reminded me that you don’t do that while there’s time left in any game.

“He was so tough and could do so much on the field but his leadership was just so outstanding as well … he was very encouraging but also firm.

“He was really inspirational.”

Like most football fans, Ayres was awestruck by some of Carey’s on-field feats but his admiration reached a new level when he coached him at the Crows.

“That was when I truly realised through watching him at training and first-hand in games just why he had been so good,” Ayres says.

“Just the amount of work that he put in.

“How dominant was Wayne in the air? How many times did we see him running back with the flight of the ball?

“Or kicking clutch goals with the swagger and exuberance that he had.

“That comes with knowing what you’re capable of.”

So who’s the best-ever as far as Ayres is concerned?

The champion defender is diplomatic but his 1983 premiership skipper Matthews clearly holds a special place in his heart.

“It’s hard to split them, it really is,” he says.

“But I saw what Leigh was capable of first-hand and I was always thankful I played with him and not against him.”