The AFL Eras Biggest Underachievers- My Top 5

Which team is the biggest underachiever of the AFL era

  • Essendon (1999-2001)

    Votes: 70 23.7%
  • Collingwood (2010-2012)

    Votes: 15 5.1%
  • Geelong (1989-1995)

    Votes: 40 13.6%
  • GWS (2016-2019)

    Votes: 38 12.9%
  • St.Kilda (1997-99 + 2004-2010)

    Votes: 117 39.7%
  • Other

    Votes: 15 5.1%

  • Total voters
    295

Virgin Dog

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Ryan Griffen
Knew I was forgetting someone. There was also Easton Wood still developing and starting to show a lot of promise around the 2010 season
 
Again though, had the total misfortune of arriving in an era where there were two better teams. The Dogs side was an awesome team. No disrespect intended to the 16 outfit but this was a better side.

The year St Kilda and Geelong played the round 14 match where we were both undefeated, I am pretty sure the Dogs actually won 8 straight to start the year
2007 to 2012 probably had the strongest top end of sides in the modern era.

An all time great cats side, A manic forward pressure St Kilda side, Collingwood also being a strong tackling and pressure side, A hawks side that had Buddy and was capable of doing magical things on their day, A dogs side that played wonderful footy and the Swans went from their 2005 to the genisis of their 2012-2016 side
 
Oct 20, 2004
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Saints of the late 00’s win this thread. Riewoldt, Hayes, Goddard, Milne, absolute champions and great finals players. Great game plan and coach. I have them as good as the Cats and Pies even without the flags to show for it. Proof that the bottom 6 probably does get you across the line.
I reckon if Matt Maguire or Luke Penny stayed fit and with the club, they win a flag. Their tall defenders were the Achilles heel.
 
Oct 20, 2004
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2008-2010 Bulldogs would be up there.

Robert Murphy
Scott West
Brad Johnson
Matthew Boyd
Shaun Higgins
Daniel Giansiracusa
Callan Ward
Ben Hudson
Jason Akermanis
Adam Cooney (even won a Brownlow in 2008)
Daniel Cross
Brian Lake
Dale Morris
Barry Hall

Our team in these 3 years was seriously stacked. Arguably the best list the Dogs have ever fielded. Lost in preliminary finals in all 3 years, and many of these blokes retired before our eventual flag win in 2016
No tall forward bar Hall who was past his best.
 
I reckon if Matt Maguire or Luke Penny stayed fit and with the club, they win a flag. Their tall defenders were the Achilles heel.
Max Hudgthon should have played in 09.

Was old but was still in pretty good form.
 

Virgin Dog

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No tall forward bar Hall who was past his best.
Must have been amazing pre-2010 if 80 goals was him over the hill. We did also have Grant who kicked 29 goals in his 2nd season, and Gia kicking 35.

Finished the season the 3rd highest scoring team, but yes I'm sure a lack of tall forwards was a major issue..
 
Aug 17, 2007
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Port Adelaide

2001- Finish 3rd
2002 - Top
2003 - Top
2004 - Top

Everyone remembers the great Lions side of this period but these seasons were in fact dominated by Port Adelaide. Unfortunately for Port, we had a coach that couldn't come up with a Plan B and Plan A didn't stack up in finals.

One flag in this period was a fail. Two would have been a pass.
Last off season I watched a couple of Showdowns in the late 90s early 2000s period.

Both our clubs should have won more flags in that era when you look at the quality of the sides between 1997 to 2006


Us 1997 to 1999.
Essendon (I guess) 2000
Port 2001-04
Us 2005-06

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Jul 28, 2012
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Geelong 2007 - 2013 Should've won 5 maybe 6 flags in that time...Clearly the best team for all of those years..
Port Adelaide 2001 -2004 Should've won at least two flags, better W/L record than Brisbane during the H&A from 2001 -04
Essendon 1999 - 2001 The best team of those 3 years and only one flag, should've won 3 in a row? The 1999 Carlton loss?
North Melbourne 1993 - 1999 How did they lose that Preliminary in 94 and how did they lose that Grand Final in 98?
St.Kilda 2004 - 2006 Lost by a goal to Port in 04 PF, they had their chances the following two years while the Swans and Eagles bored us to death!
 

Kreuuuzeurns

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I agree with all of that, their failing though was that they were competing with two great sides, and you'd be hard pressed to say they 'choked' or threw it away in those two main years - 09/10. They played a great grand final against us in 09 and we had to play the toughest match our side of that era ever played. A year later they drew, that's how close they were. So in terms of 'achievements' I guess they did underachieve but not in the same way that, say Essendon of 99 did

Just unlucky to come across one of the greatest teams ever. That Collingwood side was very good too. The Saints would’ve won a flag or two in plenty of other eras.
 
Oct 20, 2004
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Must have been amazing pre-2010 if 80 goals was him over the hill. We did also have Grant who kicked 29 goals in his 2nd season, and Gia kicking 35.

Finished the season the 3rd highest scoring team, but yes I'm sure a lack of tall forwards was a major issue..
In fairness, what do you think was the problem?
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Port Adelaide

2001- Finish 3rd
2002 - Top
2003 - Top
2004 - Top

Everyone remembers the great Lions side of this period but these seasons were in fact dominated by Port Adelaide. Unfortunately for Port, we had a coach that couldn't come up with a Plan B and Plan A didn't stack up in finals.

One flag in this period was a fail. Two would have been a pass.
Your run was timed as badly as ours.
Still remember some epic port v collingwood finals from back then
 

Virgin Dog

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In fairness, what do you think was the problem?
Outside of Geelong being the better team, it was mainly just Cooney and Murphy being plagued by injuries along with a few older players starting to slow down.

I say this seriously - Dogs of 2010 had almost no clear weakness, which is why I feel they underperformed. Maybe Eade wasn't quite a good enough coach to get it done, but really there should have been a flag somewhere between 2008-2010, but instead we couldn't get past the prelims.

I feel there are comparisons that can be drawn between the Dogs of 2008-2010, and GWS of 2016-2018. Both had insanely stacked lists, stars all over the field, but arguably held back by their coach and circumstances (i.e. Geelong for the Dogs, and Richmond for GWS).

Admittedly I could be overlooking something given its been 10+ years since then. So much has happened between then and now
 
Oct 20, 2004
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West Coast (played finals every year) and North Melbourne (six straight preliminary finals) in the 90s underachieved the most. Just two flags each from a supposed decade of dominance. Adelaide achieved just as much in two years.
I don’t know about that - after all, if you play six prelims, you should expect 1.5 flags.

North should have won 96 and 98, but lost 99 to Essendon but for the choke.

I don’t think they would have won 1994 but they were a better side than us that year.
 
Oct 20, 2004
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I say this seriously - Dogs of 2010 had almost no clear weakness
What about star power?

The Saints had Riewoldt, the best CHF of his era. The Hawks had Franklin, the best FF of his era. Collingwood had Swan, who was head and shoulders above everyone else in 2010. Geelong had a player with a legitimate claim to being the greatest to ever play. With all respect to Cooney, I don't see that kind of player in the Dogs' 2010 lineup.
 

Virgin Dog

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What about star power?

The Saints had Riewoldt, the best CHF of his era. The Hawks had Franklin, the best FF of his era. Collingwood had Swan, who was head and shoulders above everyone else in 2010. Geelong had a player with a legitimate claim to being the greatest to ever play. With all respect to Cooney, I don't see that kind of player in the Dogs' 2010 lineup.
Cooney won a Brownlow 2 years prior as well as AA. We recruited Hall who kicked 80 in 2010.

Morris was AA in 2008, while Lake was AA in 2009/2010. Boyd was AA in 2009, and Hall in 2010.

Between Morris, Lake, Hall, Cooney and Boyd, we had some outstanding players, but not quite with the lasting legacy of guys like Riewoldt/Franklin. Just don't think we lacked the star power at the top end, although our generational player in Chris Grant retired just before this period. If he were 5 years younger, I think we'd have that extra flag
 
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