Unfulfilled Destiny: careers cut short, or were ruined by injury

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mianfei

mianfei

Club Legend
May 10, 2009
1,438
394
Carlton North
AFL Club
St Kilda
PieLebo87 said:
wish the careers of the likes of Hudson and Coleman weren't cut short, just to see the end statistics. How the record books would look so much more different.
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Another forward who might have been even better than Hudson or Coleman but who was ruined by injury at a quite young age was Kelvin Templeton.

He joined Footscray as a teenager and had kicked 82 goals as a nineteen-year-old in 1976, before losing the second half of 1977 to injury, then playing complete seasons at full forward in 1978 and 1979 and kicking 209 goals for a team than went 14–29–1. Then Royce Hart moved Templeton to centre-half forward in 1980 and he revitalised a Bulldog team that started 0–11 to become the first forward to win the Brownlow.

At the time, Templeton was only 24 and would have been expected to remain a superstar throughout the 1980s, but as it turned out 1980 would be his last ever injury-free season. In the five seasons from 1981 to 1985 – two with Footscray and three with Melbourne — Templeton played just 54 games out of a possible 110. He was still listed at the start of 1986 but it was clear injuries would never permit him to play again and Templeton retired three weeks into the 1986 season.

What Templeton might have achieved had he not been plagued by injury is difficult to imagine. He and Simon Beasley would have potentially been the best pair of key forwards in in the League had they been able to play together for a sustained period, and if he had not been ruined Templeton might have strengthened Melbourne as late as the late 1980s when they reached the finals for the first time in 23 seasons in 1987 and 1988.
 
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Weird bump but I’ll contribute Sean Rusling’s name. Outstanding in the back end of 2007, and then his shoulders just gave up. Looked like he had the potential to be a Tarrant/Rocca hybrid, with Chris’ mobility and agility and absolutely blistering on the lead. Could’ve been a ten year complement to Cloke instead of mediocrity personified in Dawes.
 

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ManWithNoName said:
He missed the 3 years of what would've bee his prime. Not to mention the countless games he's missed.
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Wow I didn’t know the guy missed what looks like at least 100 games

I take him and Ricciuto over Buckley and Voss any day
 
mianfei said:
Another forward who might have been even better than Hudson or Coleman but who was ruined by injury at a quite young age was Kelvin Templeton.

He joined Footscray as a teenager and had kicked 82 goals as a nineteen-year-old in 1976, before losing the second half of 1977 to injury, then playing complete seasons at full forward in 1978 and 1979 and kicking 209 goals for a team than went 14—29—1. Then Royce Hart moved Templeton to centre-half forward in 1980 and he revitalised a Bulldog team that started 0—11 to become the first forward to win the Brownlow.

At the time, Templeton was only 24 and would have been expected to remain a superstar throughout the 1980s, but as it turned out 1980 would be his last ever injury-free season. In the six seasons from 1981 to 1985 – two with Footscray and three with Melbourne – Templeton played just 54 games out of a possible 110. He was still listed at the sorta of 1986 but it was clear injuries would never permit him to play again and Templeton retired three weeks into the 1986 season.

What Templeton might have achieved had he not been plagued by injury is difficult to imagine. He and Simon Beasley would have potentially been the best pair of key forwards in in the League had they been able to play together for a sustained period, and if he had not been ruined Templeton might have strengthened Melbourne as late as the late 1980s when they reached the finals for the first time in 23 seasons in 1987 and 1988.
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Best bump ever.

15 years and seamless.
 
Luke Ball is one of many for us who’s careers were derailed badly by injury in the 2003-2008 period.

Was a faster version of Joel Selwood, and like Selwood, would almost certainly have won/made multiple B&F’s and AA teams, but his chronic groin injuries in his early 20’s left him a shadow of his former self.

He came 2nd in the St Kilda B&F at 20yo (in a team that lost the prelim by a goal) and then won it at 21yo, the following year (again in a top 4 team, beating out the likes of Riewoldt, Harvey, Hayes, Gehrig, Dal Santo, etc) and made the AA team, but oteitis pubis got a hold of him in a big way, and he ended up just a solid “plodder”, who struggled to kick more than 40m on his right foot, or pretty much at all on his left.

After coming into the AFL extremely dual-sided and able to kick it 50m comfortably on his right.

Most who remember his latter years would remember him as extremely slow, yet he was a schoolboy sprinting champion and recorded a blistering 2.85sec at his draft camp (combine), which is seriously moving.

To put that 2.85sec into perspective, here are some other speed demons respective times:

2.87- Jack Petruccelle
2.90- Brett Delidio
2.92- Paddy Dangerfield, Luke Shuey
2.93- Gary Rohan, Conor McKenna
2.95- Lewis Jetta, Jaiden Stephenson, Shai Bolton
2.96- Daniel Wells, Ben King

So Bally pre-injuries was pretty much the complete package. Super-quick inside mid who won his own ball, an excellent kick on both feet, ultra-courageous, tackled a ton and was captaining a finals team by 22yo. He wasn’t drafted between Hodge and Judd just for laughs.

His injuries alone probably cost us two flags.

A similar case in the next decade is of course Jaegar O’Meara.

Likewise pretty much the “complete package”, with no obvious weaknesses, but career completely derailed by injury.

Looked the type of guy who would have won 2 Brownlows and made 6+ AA teams, but will almost certainly end up with none of either, and possibly not even a club B&F.
 
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Scotland said:
From West Coast:

Brad Smith. Unfulfilled potential and a career cut short (well, prevented from starting) by injury. Who knows how well he could have gone as a 25 year old in a top AFL side prior to his knee injuries. Kicking bags in the WAFL now, but will never play at AFL level.

Michael Gardiner. At 24 was the dominant ruckman in the AFL when he went down with a serious knee injury. 'Other factors' have influenced the progression of his career, but from Rd 3 2004 onwards he was not the same athlete.
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I remember the story about Brad Smith. West coast were desperate of a KPF. He kicked 100 goals for Subiaco in a season didn't he?

Had a knee injury too.
 
Freomaniac said:
I remember the story about Brad Smith. West coast were desperate of a KPF. He kicked 100 goals for Subiaco in a season didn't he?

Had a knee injury too.
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Anthony Moribito looked like he could be anything for you guys. Destroyed by injuries.

23 games in his first year, all at just 18yo, Brownlow votes in two of them, then doesn’t play again for almost 4 full years, when he plays his final 3 games.
 
Harley Bennell.

In just his 2nd season (all games played that year at just 19yo) he averaged 24 disposals and over a goal a game, which is ridiculous, including one game of 38 disposals and 4 goals and another of 37 and 3!

Then plays just 15 games in each of the next 3 years, then just 7 in total in the following 5 seasons. His last.

What Gold Coast could have been had he and JOM stayed fit and healthy and at the club.
 
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From a Crows perspective, Trent Hentschel was one who looked like developing into a great forward for us. Debuted in 2003, in 2005 kicked 26 goals from 21 games, in 2006 kicked 42 goals from 19 games before getting his knee absolutely destroyed (dislocated kneecap + ruptured ACL) in a tackle during the round 20 game against Port. As a result didn't play again until 2009, but his knee couldn't stand up to the game anymore and he retired in 2010.
 
Cut short: John Coleman is the biggest name ever to have his career cut short. Do Melbourne win all those flags if he continues playing in the 50s?

John Greening was only 21 when he was struck down and never the same player again. It cost the Pies flags IMO. No way Carlton and Richmond dominate as they did for the next three years if he was at his best.

Peter Hudson was only 26 in 1972and smack in the middle of his peak when injury ruined him for years.

John Sharrock was only 24 when injury ended his career in 1968, possibly the most gifted half forward in the 60s, Cats were at a total loss without him as Marshall and Farmer went home.

Neale Daniher was cruelly cut down by injury and he was the best Daniher of them all!

Phil Carman, the footy world was deprived of one of the best players in the 70s due to sheer idiocy!
 

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Matthew Egan. Fractured the navicular bone in his foot in the last H&A round of 2007 and never played again. Was the All-Australian CHB that year and 24 years old.
 
aussierulesrules said:
A similar case in the next decade is of course Jaegar O’Meara.
Click to expand...
And for that matter Jon Patton, huge potential, career cut short by injuries (just before the the dick pics would have done the same thing)
 
Work with a fella- no names mentioned as he’s a boss- but he was on Hawthorns list in the late 80’s.
Didn’t care. For him footy was something that you did on a Saturday then got on the piss with your mates. None of this training your guts out stuff.
The hawks tried their guts out to keep him but the big league wasn’t his thing.
Anyone that saw him play are adamant he would have played 200 in one of the best teams to ever take the field...
But I guess there are 1000 stories like that
 
mianfei said:
Another forward who might have been even better than Hudson or Coleman but who was ruined by injury at a quite young age was Kelvin Templeton.

He joined Footscray as a teenager and had kicked 82 goals as a nineteen-year-old in 1976, before losing the second half of 1977 to injury, then playing complete seasons at full forward in 1978 and 1979 and kicking 209 goals for a team than went 14—29—1. Then Royce Hart moved Templeton to centre-half forward in 1980 and he revitalised a Bulldog team that started 0—11 to become the first forward to win the Brownlow.

At the time, Templeton was only 24 and would have been expected to remain a superstar throughout the 1980s, but as it turned out 1980 would be his last ever injury-free season. In the six seasons from 1981 to 1985 – two with Footscray and three with Melbourne – Templeton played just 54 games out of a possible 110. He was still listed at the sorta of 1986 but it was clear injuries would never permit him to play again and Templeton retired three weeks into the 1986 season.

What Templeton might have achieved had he not been plagued by injury is difficult to imagine. He and Simon Beasley would have potentially been the best pair of key forwards in in the League had they been able to play together for a sustained period, and if he had not been ruined Templeton might have strengthened Melbourne as late as the late 1980s when they reached the finals for the first time in 23 seasons in 1987 and 1988.
Click to expand...
Post so long it took 15 years to type.
 
jim boy said:
And for that matter Jon Patton, huge potential, career cut short by injuries (just before the the dick pics would have done the same thing)
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Never saw the potential with Patton. sure he looks like Superman, could take an overhead market, but he was more like a 50-year-old Christopher Reeves as soon as the ball hit the deck.
 
aussierulesrules said:
Anthony Moribito looked like he could be anything for you guys. Destroyed by injuries.

23 games in his first year, all at just 18yo, Brownlow votes in two of them, then doesn’t play again for almost 4 full years, when he plays his final 3 games.
Click to expand...

Yep. Compare his 2010 stats to Ollie wines 1st year in 2013 and its comparable. Not Saying that he would of won a Brownlow medal.
 
aussierulesrules said:
Luke Ball is one of many for us who’s careers were derailed badly by injury in the 2003-2008 period.

Was a faster version of Joel Selwood, and like Selwood, would almost certainly have won/made multiple B&F’s and AA teams, but his chronic groin injuries in his early 20’s left him a shadow of his former self.

He came 2nd in the St Kilda B&F at 20yo (in a team that lost the prelim by a goal) and then won it at 21yo, the following year (again in a top 4 team, beating out the likes of Riewoldt, Harvey, Hayes, Gehrig, Dal Santo, etc) and made the AA team, but oteitis pubis got a hold of him in a big way, and he ended up just a solid “plodder”, who struggled to kick more than 40m on his right foot, or pretty much at all on his left.

After coming into the AFL extremely dual-sided and able to kick it 50m comfortably on his right.

Most who remember his latter years would remember him as extremely slow, yet he was a schoolboy sprinting champion and recorded a blistering 2.85sec at his draft camp (combine), which is seriously moving.

To put that 2.85sec into perspective, here are some other speed demons respective times:

2.87- Jack Petruccelle
2.90- Brett Delidio
2.92- Paddy Dangerfield, Luke Shuey
2.93- Gary Rohan, Conor McKenna
2.95- Lewis Jetta, Jaiden Stephenson, Shai Bolton
2.96- Daniel Wells, Ben King

So Bally pre-injuries was pretty much the complete package. Super-quick inside mid who won his own ball, an excellent kick on both feet, ultra-courageous, tackled a ton and was captaining a finals team by 22yo. He wasn’t drafted between Hodge and Judd just for laughs.

His injuries alone probably cost us two flags.

A similar case in the next decade is of course Jaegar O’Meara.

Likewise pretty much the “complete package”, with no obvious weaknesses, but career completely derailed by injury.

Looked the type of guy who would have won 2 Brownlows and made 6+ AA teams, but will almost certainly end up with none of either, and possibly not even a club B&F.
Click to expand...

Your thoughts on Luke Penny Before his knee injuries?
 
Freomaniac said:
Your thoughts on Luke Penny Before his knee injuries?
Click to expand...
Penny was another of our best team who’s career was completely derailed by injury around that time.

Was our full back in the prelim years under Thomas and only just coming into his prime years, when his ongoing knee injuries ended his career, at just 24yo.

Then there was Matt Maguire, who was our CHB in the 2004/2005 prelim years, at just 20/21yo, and already one of the best CHB’s in the league, who was never remotely the same after that horrific broken leg in 2006, at just 22yo, and all the complications that followed as a result of the injury.

Played just 14 more games for us.

Then of course Kosi was never the same after that horrific fractured skull at 23yo, which derailed his career.

The year prior he had that incredible run of games (at 22yo) where he was playing ruck and got the following Brownlow votes, in a 4 week stretch, as acting captain: 2, 3, 3, 3. With games of 19 disposals and 3 goals, 23 and 4, 16 and 5 and 18 and 5. Playing mostly ruck!

Then there was our other top 5 pick from that 2001 “superdraft”, Xavier Clark, who burst out of the blocks faster than Dal Santo and Montagna, and at 20yo was jumping on heads and taking speccies every 2nd week (hence taking 22 contested marks that year, which is just 2 less than Ben King took last season) and kicking goals etc, who had his career derailed by repeated soft tissue injuries, that left him a shadow of his former self.

He too played his last game for us prior to his 25th birthday, before playing one game for Brisbane, two years later.

So that was 5 of our young guns (including picks 2, 2, 5 and 21, plus a guy we traded pick 17 for) from that team who were all done or never the same again by 25yo, and as if that wasn’t enough, we traded picks 6 and 31 for ruckman Barry Brooks, in 2002 (after he was another top 15 pick in that 2001 superdraft) and he did an ACL at 19yo, the following year, and didn’t play another AFL game for almost two years. He played just 4 more games.

The mind boggles at the team we could have had by around 2009 had we had those guys at anything like they would been without the career-derailing injuries.

Ball, Maguire and Brooks were just 25yo that year, Clark 26, Kosi 27 and Penny 28yo. Yet we were still good enough to win 19 straight games!

What could have been.
 
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g_TRAIN said:
Of recent times Paddy McCartin.

Never even really hot going and we only saw glimpses of his talent.

He has a second chance now hopefully he can out all those concussions behind him

On Pixel 4a (5G) using BigFooty.com mobile app
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I don't think many people say glimpses of his talent. I only saw evidence that Saint Kildas made a huge, huge blunder.
 
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