Underdone and straight into finals

Beutbrute

The West is Ours!
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Thread starter #1
What happens when your best player is just getting fit and ready to play on the eve of finals? The pressure and stakes are higher in finals footy, and not the best place to get match fit. It seems that more often than not bringing an underdone player straight in for finals footy ends up being a bust.

Which players have been able to come back in and make an impact straight away, and which ones haven't?
Tempted to have a poll but we all know Jack Watts would win this one even though he's never played a final.
 

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Beutbrute

The West is Ours!
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Thread starter #3
Probably the best example for us was Michael Gardiner coming back for the 2005 Grand Final in place of Quentin Lynch and playing a mare
 

Beutbrute

The West is Ours!
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West Coast Wonders, GSW Bandwagoner
Thread starter #7
2016 elimination final -
Returning from Jordan Roughead's calf injury, Easton Wood and Tom Liberatore's ankle injuries, Jackson Macrae's hamstring tendon problem

All played well.
I find it hard to like this one
 

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radiojake

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#24
Bartel missed the last 2 rounds of the season in 2007 due to a burst appendix and came straight back in to the Qualifying Final. Won the Brownlow that year.

How many days after the surgery did he play??

I'm just really curious about this .....
 

The Swert

Premiership Player
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#25
Lance Franklin looked like he did his ACL in the 2011 Qualifying Final loss to Geelong.

Everybody was shocked to see him named a week later versus Sydney. He kicked 4 goals.
Then a week later almost dragged his team into the GF with that remarkable dribble goal late in the 4th. It was not to be.
 
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