THE HIGHLIGHTS are incredible, the longevity is astounding and the body of work for each is jaw-dropping, but only one of Lance Franklin or Andrew McLeod can advance past the semi-final stage of The Deadliest.

McLeod's back-to-back Norm Smith Medals pushed him past Maurice Rioli comfortably in the quarter-final stage with 67 per cent of the votes.

The poll was much closer for Franklin, gathering 55 per cent of the votes against his old teammate Cyril Rioli.

Will you vote for the smooth-moving maestro McLeod, or the one-of-a-kind Buddy Franklin?

>> VOTING FOR THIS DEADLY MATCH-UP IS NOW CLOSED

Lance 'Buddy' Franklin
Hawthorn/Sydney
Noongar/Wajuk
300 games, 944 goals, two-time premiership player, four-time Coleman Medal winner, eight-time All-Australian, two-time Goal of the Year winner

The chance to break the 1000 goal mark puts Franklin into an incredible group and, with the defensive adjustments coaches have made over the span of the gun forward's career, it makes it all the more unbelievable. 

It's clear Franklin is the greatest forward of his generation, with an enormous output and an outstanding highlight reel to match. 

There's no gaps on Franklin's resume, which puts him at an advantage over all the other modern era candidates for The Deadliest voting.

The only critique one could make is leaving two flags on the table after switching from Hawthorn to the Swans in 2014 - but, it should be noted, it was a pretty good deal. 

Andrew McLeod
Adelaide
Wardaman/Wargamaygan
340 games, 275 goals, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, two-time premiership player, two-time Norm Smith medallist, five-time All-Australian, Indigenous Team of the Century

McLeod shares a record with Gary Ayres, Luke Hodge and Dustin Martin as the only players to win multiple Norm Smith Medals, but if you take a deeper dive into some of the context of those Grand Finals, then you'll understand why McLeod's impact was so great.

McLeod's first Norm Smith effort came in the 1997 Grand Final, when he was just 21yo.

His Crows teammate Darren Jarman kicked six goals that day, but McLeod's 31 disposals were deemed to have been more important. 

The story was the same in 1998, where McLeod's 30 disposals earned him a second Norm Smith, again over Jarman who finished with five goals.

With 340 games and five All-Australian blazers, McLeod was a model of consistency and brilliance.

A Deadly match-up: Andrew McLeod v Lance Franklin. WATCH IT HERE