IT is Hall of Fame time again ... (finally).

For the second consecutive year, the greatest night on the Australian football calendar is lost to another lockdown with the pandemic in Melbourne. The black-tie induction dinner planned for late June in Melbourne becomes - again - a television event with the Fox Footy Channel, this time on Tuesday evening.

It is the 25th anniversary of the inception of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, the game's greatest national pantheon of honour, that was established in 1996 to be part of the VFL-AFL celebrations of the league's centenary season.

As with every induction ceremony - be it a black-tie event or a television presentation - there is always the same fall-out based on who has been overlooked rather than who has been inducted as a Hall of Famer or elevated to "legend" status.

Perhaps that is exactly how it will be considering the exclusive nature of the Hall of Fame.

The 25th anniversary of the Hall of Fame allows for a "clean up" towards some of the debate on those who were overlooked at the beginning in 1996 and have continued to stay unheralded. The "catch-up" phase seems appropriate at an anniversary moment such as this one.

It is a pity a pandemic denies the moment its proper feel.

The Hall of Fame custodians - not just the selectors - have wrestled with this moment for some time. The critical debate is with the "legends of the game", now deceased, but still deserving of recognition on a higher pedestal in the Hall of Fame because of their living legacy in Australian football.

A "legend" by the Hall of Fame charter is hailed for having "had a particularly significant positive impact on the game of Australian football".

Port Adelaide has one such legend, albeit with a very brief resume at Alberton: Haydn Bunton senior, a 17-game player in the "bars" jumper in 1945 after his extraordinary career at Fitzroy in the VFL and Subiaco in the WAFL.

The men of Port Adelaide seen as deserving as a higher pedestal in the Hall of Fame seem so obvious it is more staggering (or annoying) they were not honoured long ago. But that is for another debate.

Bob Quinn MM.

Fos Williams.

And not just for their extraordinary achievements at the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Both Quinn and Williams left a significant legacy to South Australian football - and its development as a national code - by their unselfish and grand contributions to the State team. There is Quinn's part in the comeback against Victoria to achieve the draw at Princes Park after returning from war duty with the Military Medal. There is Williams' coaching South Australia to the still-celebrated win against the Big V at the MCG in 1963.

Both men are legends with their legacy living on with strength in Australian football.

Today, the Port Adelaide fans have their wish for Russell Ebert - just as John Kennedy senior was last year - to be recognised as a legend in the Hall of Fame while he fights serious illness.

As a player recognised as one of South Australia's finest - always mentioned in the same debate as Hall of Fame legend Barrie Robran - there is no doubt that Ebert can stand alongside the game's legends with every justification demanded in assessing men and women for the highest pedestal in the Hall.

Port Adelaide has - since 1870 - known many legends. If the national Hall of Fame was established well before 1996 this would be noted with a proud roll call of legends - Quinn, Williams, Motley, Cahill and Ebert being the most obvious with their achievements in Australian football on the top shelf.

It shall be an interesting induction ceremony on Tuesday night. Again.

Michelangelo Rucci was a national Hall of Fame selector from 2012-2020.