Talented players who never got fit/were overweight

[FullySik]

Who are some talented players who never got fit enough to reach their potential or were overweight.

I'll start with Stewart Dew and Paul Hasleby.

 

[AFLOnline]

Lance Whitnall and Dean Rioli spring to mind almost immediately.

 

[Gosha]

Relton Roberts

 

[RUNVS]

Imagine how good Dunstall and Lockett would have been if they tried to get anywhere near their potential fitness levels.

 

[marty36]

Sometimes they play better fat, D Jars, T Lockett, J Dunstall

 

[Hammer#8]

Scott Cummings towards the end.

Hutchy in that EJ Whitten's match.

 

[Doobie Doedee]

Big Baby Davis

 

[Ok Boomer]

Hodge

 

[pazza]

Dean Rioli
Mick Nolan!!!!

 

[moses]

Mark Cosgrove thread

 

[Bulldog1954]

Ash Sampi was incredibly talented but had nowhere near the fitness required to make use of that talent.

 

[1990crow]

Graham Johncock

 

[Upgrayedd]

Hodge

strange it took him to turn about 28 before he could find any durability. Still maximised his talents buy i think he got chubby from the constant op issues he had younger. Haselby was always a fat kid. He was in shape when he had his good couple of years. However once he started struggling to train he just packed it on

 

[Jables]

Imagine how good Dunstall and Lockett would have been if they tried to get anywhere near their potential fitness levels.

Dunstall wasn't really overweight for most of his career, his playing weight was 98 kg and a lot of that was muscle. Google his playing day photos and compare him to Lockett.

 

[Milux]

Ash mcgrath was always 5 odd kilos ovee weight.

 

[Milanista28]

Rioli had a pretty good career though, Got what he wanted out of it.

 

[RUNVS]

Dunstall wasn't really overweight for most of his career, his playing weight was 98 kg and a lot of that was muscle. Google his playing day photos and compare him to Lockett.

Even his coach referred to Dunstall as "the fat one" in a story Dunstall was telling about how he and some team mates ran from the cops when in Las Vegas.

 

[krisholio14]

Gary Ablett Snr was naturally fit, but can you imagine if he'd actually trained like every other player on the list did?

 

[Vin28]

Ash Sampi taken at pick 6 in the 2001 draft. Had the talent but lacked application.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Darren Jarman never looked all that fit or strong really but he had a shitload of skill and footy nous.

 

[mike123]

If Andrew Krakouer was fitter he could have played through the middle allot more and be a dangerous mid/forward.

 

[flyinghi64]

Ash Sampi could have been anything but unfortunately had the heart and drive of a snail.
There was a story floating around that he was in bed when he got drafted, when told by his mum he got drafted by the Eagles he just rolled over and went back to sleep.

 

[Big_Birdy]

Damien Cupido

 

[Silent Alarm]

Ash Sampi could have been anything but unfortunately had the heart and drive of a snail.
There was a story floating around that he was in bed when he got drafted, when told by his mum he got drafted by the Eagles he just rolled over and went back to sleep.

I like these stories more than the ones about some a-hole who gets 25 of his mates around and gets a rookie pick at most.

My Pies mate reckons Swanny was still going at Schoolies in November when he was drafted. Got a call from Eddie or Bucks and they said "see you tomorrow!" Swan goes "nah we've got the chalet booked until Sunday night."

So what if Ash Sampi didn't care that much about being a great AFL footballer? You have to remember that Aboriginal people have a different, more down to earth, possessionless way of life. They don't care about being millionaires, Brownlows, or a house in Claremont. They have a different set of priorities, their earth and family and identity. It's hard to ditch that mindframe after thousands of years just because you're good at sport.

To say he had the heart of a snail is pretty insulting and nasty, and sort of neglectful of realising where the guy comes from. We all have different motivations in life.

The sort of person who has the heart of a snail is that Hill prick who plays for your lot. So forward running, gutless, squibbing, and dirty that the ******* Bullies got rid of him. He's your prime example of gutless. Not Ash Sampi.

 

[Silvagnis]

Fevola. The ******* should have developed the endurance to play up the ground and get more of the ball like Pavlich, S.Johnson or Aker. As freakish as any player, but the only time he chased as hard as Cyril was the time he was on 99 goals.

Same goes for Yarran who doesn't run as hard and hit every mark at training like Curnow and Carrazzo. Has a history of soft tissue injuries. A pure talent who should have moved into the midfield like the Burgoynes and Mcleod. Ratten and Hanna did it.