Is Fido the most under-rated Eagle ever?

[Carn the Coasters]

I know this is a little off topic, but what better time to try and think of the past!!!

I have always thought that Fido was a much better player than he was given credit for (perhaps due to his brother, or perhaps due to his size or lack of finals performance). Either way, he kicked a load of goals and was always good for 5 or 6 goals, especially in away games.

So to the title of the post, is he the most under-rated Eagle ever?

 

[materamagic]

He was widely acknowledged as one of the premier small forwards in the comp in his prime, I don't think he is underrated as a player, he is missed though. However for the fact that we have so many great players over the years, his name isn't generally the first name mentioned.

 

[CursoryMercenary]

Yeah we never really replaced him properly. Might have won the Grand Final if he was in the side in 05'.

Sampi was emarked as his long term successor but failed miserabley.

McKinley is going to be a star but he isn't a crumber and shouldn't be thought of in that way.

 

[Carn the Coasters]

Yeah he was seen as one of the best of his time in that position, but I doubt many would place him in their top 10 Eagles of all time, but perhaps he deserves to be there?

 

[Kempie]

Not really under-rated, but I know I've been thinking about him quite a lot over the last couple of years, especially this year

 

[TheGhostOfJohnBelushi]

Never was underrated. Really wish he stuck around for another year and played in the 06 GF. Easily our best forward pocket specialist ever.

 

[Cuzz09]

Yeah felt sorry for little Phil.

Debut the year after we wonthe GF and retire the year before we win our next....

Was a super player and always busted his guts to keep the ball down there.

Genuinely could feel the passion when he played as when he kicked a goal he wasnt afraid to show some emotion

We have some goalsneaks now but nowhere near his calibre.

LeCras was looking very promising in that role pushing upfield before his injury.

 

[wirra44]

yea i really miss a sneaky goal sneak in our team like phil and even sampi was such a exciting playing when he got the ball. Iam afraid the only goalsneak we got now is steven armstrong which i think did a bit better last night with 2 goals.

 

[Eagle87]

Yeah he was seen as one of the best of his time in that position, but I doubt many would place him in their top 10 Eagles of all time, but perhaps he deserves to be there?

A good player but not even close to Top 10 ever. In no particular order here are 10 that Fido isnt even close to in class:

Judd, Cousins, Peter Matera, Jakovich, McKenna, Kemp, Cox, Kerr, Mainwaring, MacIntosh....

Of forwards to play for our club, off the top of my head he would be behind Sumich, Heady & Lewis.

He was a good player who was, at times, ineffective in big games but its still would have been nice to see him play in the 2005 GF!

 

[killerEagle]

Of forwards to play for our club, off the top of my head he would be behind Sumich, Heady & Lewis.

He was a good player who was, at times, ineffective in big games but its still would have been nice to see him play in the 2005 GF!

From memory he was the #1 go to guy & virtually a lone hand up forward for a number of years. In those days if he didn't kick 4 then the Eagles usually lost.
When you look at the size of the guy it was an amazing effort & just very unfortunate his body gave in when it did. Would have been an amazing asset crumbing in a team which actually had a few leading forwards.

 

[Eagle87]

From memory he was the #1 go to guy & virtually a lone hand up forward for a number of years. In those days if he didn't kick 4 then the Eagles usually lost.
When you look at the size of the guy it was an amazing effort & just very unfortunate his body gave in when it did. Would have been an amazing asset crumbing in a team which actually had a few leading forwards.

Interestingly, he played with one quality tall forward in his time at the Eagles and had 2 of his best years.

1999 & 2000 - Fido kicked 51 & 49 goals.

Scott Cummings kicked 95 & 47 (from only 13 games)

Would be handy to have a small & tall forward who could collectively kick 146 goals in a season.

When people talk about loss of players in our team, they sometimes just focus on the lost premiership players and they forget that Fido kicked 23 goals in a 5 game stretch from round 11-15 that year - a key in us finishing top 2 and getting us to the GF. Over the course of a season its your depth of talent that gets you to finals. The loss of so many experienced guys over the last 2 or 3 years adds up and when you get a couple of injuries or form issues, there is nothing (AFL ready) left.

 

[wce4premiership]

Got robbed an all-aussie or 2.

Was the best small forward in the comp by a fair way imo.

 

[MaxHunt]

On fox league teams last night they rated the top 5 brothers to have played the game.

5. Coventry's
4. Danniher's
3. Krakouer's
2. Cornes
1. Madden's

Wouldve thought that the matera's couldve made it in that list myself.

 

[Strider83]

Wha made him such a pocket player was he constantly tackled and ran down opposition players. This gave all the defenders a sense of fear and seemed to make our forward line work even more effective. Good to see the likes of Kennedy and Mckinley trying to bring back this forward line pressure, we sorely miss it!