The GOAT vote final: Is Meninga or Gregan Canberra's biggest legend?

Two men that couldn't be more different in stature, but share sizeable football resumes and were widely regarded as the best in the world when at the peak of their powers. Vote below to decide who deserves the title.

Meninga - a three-time premiership winner with the Raiders, Queensland legend, the only player to be selected on four Kangaroos tour.

Gregan - a two-time championship winner with the Brumbies, a Wallabies centurion and a World Cup winner.

Meninga - that try in the 1994 grand final - his last game.

Gregan - that tackle in the same year at the same venue.

We asked Canberra sporting fans to help us determine the city's greatest footballer as the Raiders and Brumbies prepare to celebrate premiership milestones this week.

The Raiders will mark 30 years since beating the Bulldogs in the 1994 grand final.

The Brumbies are celebrating 20 years since toppling the Crusaders in the 2004 Super Rugby final.

When you assess both of those teams, Meninga and Gregan stand out as the ones. The two men who inspired others, who were leaders and who had the skill in their positions to match anyone in the world.

Meninga was the powerful centre with thighs the size of tree trunks. Gregan was more diminutive, but incredibly cunning close to the ruck.

In terms of the battle to be Canberra's GOAT, Meninga beat Ricky Stuart in the Raiders side of the draw, but not by a landslide.

Meninga bagged 69 per cent of the vote ahead of Stuart's 31 per cent.

For the Brumbies, it was the 9-10 combination going head to head. Gregan v Larkham - the halves pairing that dominated for the Wallabies and the Brumbies over so many years.

This battle was much closer, with Gregan sneaking into the final with 53 per cent of the vote and Larkham close behind with 47 per cent.

Have your say now to decide the GOAT once and for all.

And then there were four, and is anyone really surprised? After almost 2000 votes in the search for Canberra's greatest footballer, we're down to the Canberra Raiders' and ACT Brumbies' biggest names.

The semi-finals (vote below) will come down to Ricky Stuart v Mal Meninga and George Gregan v Stephen Larkham.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that the quartet are the ones left standing.

Meninga has a grandstand and a statue at Canberra Stadium, while the eastern grandstand is the "Gregan-Larkham Stand".

This is the third instalment of the mission to find Canberra's greatest footballer as the Raiders and Brumbies celebrate significant premiership milestones this week.

The 1994 Raiders - arguably one of the greatest teams ever assembled in rugby league - will celebrate 30 years since their grand final win at Magic Round in Brisbane on Friday.

Back home, the 2004 Brumbies will mark 20 years since their title-winning moment against the Canterbury Crusaders. That game against the Crusaders remains the highest-attended event in Canberra Stadium history.

Almost 29,000 watched that game - 28,753 to be specific - and the record that will never be broken after updates to capacity regulations over the years.

So who deserves to go through to the Raiders v Brumbies final?

The quarter-final results were largely predictable, but readers have reported having to choose between Meninga and Laurie Daley - who also has a statue at Canberra Stadium - was the toughest decision.

Meninga won that won, taking 70 per cent of the vote, Stuart beat his good mate Brett Mullins in an 87-13 landslide.

Gregan toppled Joe Roff 80-20 in the vote split, while the biggest surprise came in Larkham v George Smith.

Smith is a Brumbies and Wallabies legend and spent more than 20 years playing professional rugby. He is widely regarded as one of Australian rugby's greats, and was the best in the world in his position.

But Larkham - a silky playmaker who won a World Cup - nabbed 67 per cent of the vote.

Have your say now to decide who should be in the final. We'll collate those results for a grand final on Wednesday before revealing the winner on Friday.

The round one results are in, and the verdict is brutal. Some of Canberra's best-known footballers have been knocked out in search of the city's greatest player.

Vote in the survey below for the quarter-finals round, which will see Ricky Stuart take on Brett Mullins, Laurie Daley go head to head with Mal Meninga, George Gregan taking on Joe Roff and Stephen Larkham up against George Smith.

This is the second instalment of a series to try to determine who Canberra's greatest footballer is, based on the teams from the 1994 Raiders and the 2004 Brumbies. We want you to have your say.

We picked 16 players to start (eight from each team) and placed the Raiders on one side of the bracket, and the Brumbies on the other. The winners of the first match ups have advanced to the quarter-finals, with semi-final participants to be revealed on Monday before the GOAT argument is finalised next Friday.

Have your say now and stay tuned for the results.

The first round threw up some close battles. Brett Mullins edged out David Furner by winning 65 per cent of the vote, while Ricky Stuart v Bradley Clyde went down to the wire.

Stuart, the legendary halfback and now coach, jagged 57 per cent of the vote while Clyde - a two-time grand final best and fairest winner - was knocked out after getting 43 per cent.

Meninga beat Steve Walters in a landslide of 95 per cent, while the Joe Roff v Matt Giteau battle was the closest on the Brumbies' side of the draw.

Roff had 55 per cent of the votes to edge out Giteau, while Gregan, Smith and Larkham were convincing winners.

Brad Clyde reckons he was on a "magic carpet ride".

But ask two of the greatest rugby league players of all time and you get a clear idea of just how good the former Canberra Raiders lock was.

Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns says Cyde changed the way forwards play. NRL Hall of Famer Brad Fittler says he showed people what was possible for a player with No.13 on their back.

So when you talk about the greatest player Canberra has ever produced, Clyde has to be in the conversation.

Is it Clyde, or World Rugby Hall of Famer George Smith, who was named the ACT Brumbies' player of the year a staggering 10 times?

Remember our debate about Canberra's greatest team in a battle between the 1994 Raiders and 2004 Brumbies? Now The Canberra Times has picked 16 greats from those teams in a bid to settle on the city's greatest footballer.

The Brumbies' contenders are Smith, Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff, Matt Giteau, Stirling Mortlock, George Gregan, Owen Finegan and Jeremy Paul.

Clyde, Brett Mullins, David Furner, Mal Meninga, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, Glenn Lazarus and Steve Walters are the Raiders in the mix.

"I don't think 'Clydey' gets the accolades he probably deserves," Johns said on Channel Nine's Sunday Footy Show.

"He changed the position, he changed the way forwards play."

Fittler added: "He definitely changed the way locks play".

"Through the period ... the end of the '80s, through the '90s and the start of the 2000s, there was a big change in the game," Fittler said.

"And Clydey, you had the biggest say in the way it was changed. You showed everyone what was possible. You taught everyone you can actually defend, get back, have a run, and then support."

Clyde played the first of his 178 games for Canberra as an 18-year-old in 1988 and won the first of his two Clive Churchill Medals a year later.

"It was a magic carpet ride for me," Clyde said.

"I was playing alongside all these guys, I was getting my footy cards signed by them only 12 months before."

And he even skinned Meninga during a State of Origin game which, Clyde jokes, is worthy of a place on his CV.

Because in this debate, Big Mal might take some beating.

"He would just set expectations. His expectation was nothing less than winning," Clyde said. "With those expectations, he would show you how to win football games. Mal was ultimately the leader and led through performance."

Then there were the likes of Daley and Stuart.

"I had the luxury of playing a lot of my footy with those guys," Clyde said.

"Laurie could turn a game on its head. His ability to read a game was fantastic. 'Sticky', he would narrate the whole game. He was a director of our team.

"The quality and what that brings to a team is enormous."

If we're talking directors and game-breakers, how about Gregan, Larkham and Giteau?

Gregan is still the Wallabies' most-capped player with 139 Test appearances, while Larkham, Giteau and Smith are also in Australia's 100-Test club.

"[The 2004 season] was amazing for me," Giteau said in March.

"These are guys that only two years earlier, I'd head out to the Brumbies' stadium to watch them, and then all of a sudden I'm catching passes off them, I'm training with them, I'm hanging with them.

"It was surreal. I was very nervous most training sessions. Once you get into the season you start to feel more comfortable. They were extremely welcoming, great veteran players who just allowed me to be myself. That was a really great group we had there."