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

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Collins-Langford-Ayres said:
Lee Walker, Tony Hall, David Schwartz.
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Not sure how good Walker would've been, but those other two would've definitely been champions.

Tony Hall was amazing in 1989 before he did his knee. He had the most beautiful set of hands I've ever seen. Better than Hird's. He really lost a lot of mobility after that and was nowhere near as good. He still played in our '91 flag, but he was merely a useful forward.

In the 1994 finals, Schwarz looked the equal of Wayne Carey, if not better. He could jump over packs, or run right through them like he was Superman. 3 knee recos later.... Still played well enough to win Melbourne's best and fairest, but it was like watching one of those great big barges. He could hardly turn. He was remarkably effective, given his obvious limitations, which shows what a champion he would've been.
 
Brian Gleeson

Won the Brownlow Medal in 1957 as a 22-year old from 15 games and then injured his knee prior to the 1958 season.


Never played again.


My grandfather said he was one of the most talented footballers he has seen.

Reckons his ruckwork was amazing, and he would regularly also be the dominant midfielder on the ground. Says he would have been one of the greatest ever players ... very much the Goodes type.
 

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Chewy said:
Not sure how good Walker would've been, but those other two would've definitely been champions.
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I happened to see one of Walkers comeback games for Collingwood on telly; he was absolutely killing it then did his knee again. One of the worst things I have ever seen while watching footy. All the potential in the world and a dodgy ligament does you in. 99.9% of the package.
 
Barry Stoneham.

At the end of the 1993 season he had three 25/4* games out of the last 4 (and kicked 4 in the other game but only had 13 touches). :eek: :eek:

One of them was on Glen Jakovich! :eek:

*25+ touches and 4+ goals (AKA an "ANZAC" ;)) - the AFL equivalent of an NBA triple-double, IMO. :) (there was a thread about this stat several months ago)

Breaks his leg in R21 1994 and doesn't play again until 1996 but is never one tenth as good as he was. :(
 
unexplained said:
I happened to see one of Walkers comeback games for Collingwood on telly; he was absolutely killing it then did his knee again. One of the worst things I have ever seen while watching footy. All the potential in the world and a dodgy ligament does you in. 99.9% of the package.
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Walker could've been anything. Another was Tom Davidson. I saw his first (and only) game and looked pretty comfortable out there. Unfortunately he landed akwardly and that was it. It didn't seem to be much of a fall.

Brad Boyd could've been a good player, but was cut down by injuries.
 
bradrowe#32 said:
Walker could've been anything. Another was Tom Davidson. I saw his first (and only) game and looked pretty comfortable out there. Unfortunately he landed akwardly and that was it. It didn't seem to be much of a fall.

Brad Boyd could've been a good player, but was cut down by injuries.
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I mentioned him earlier. Did his knee in his debut season, first game back the next year he did his other knee.
 
Bomber32 said:
Neil Sachse of Footscray when he became a quadriplegic after a collision with Fitzroy's Kevin O'Keefe at the Whitten Oval in 1975.
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A couple of years before this tragedy, another young Bulldog on the rise had his career cut short, by an errant Cowboy Neale elbow to the eye socket which caused blindness in that eye. The young Bulldog was Stephen Boyle (Tim's father incidentally): he kicked a big bag only weeks before this unfortunate end to his career. Was only in his early 20's too.
 
gadj1976 said:
Dunno how good he was but Tex Walker from Collingwoods' career was ruined by injury.
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Not very good. An athlete trying to be turned into a footballer. Was a very late pick and a project player. If he had been good enough he'd still be on our list, his injuries weren't that bad.

Tom Davidson is one player who was cut down by multiple knee recos. He was on fire in his debut before he did his knee again.
 
Paul Salmon. Until he did his knee in the centre at Vic Park he was on the road to being one of the best if not the best big men in the history of footy.


As decent as he was when he came back, I still remember how dominant he was and how often he took teams apart prior to his injury. Was never as good after that day.
 

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Jabso said:
Not very good. An athlete trying to be turned into a footballer. Was a very late pick and a project player. If he had been good enough he'd still be on our list, his injuries weren't that bad.

Tom Davidson is one player who was cut down by multiple knee recos. He was on fire in his debut before he did his knee again.
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injuries weren't that bad - didn't he do three knees? a la schwarz
 
Warwick said:
Can't believe Brad Boyd hasn't been mentioned yet.

The captaincy battle between him and Vossy would have been huge if Boyd stayed injury free. Forget the Fab 5, we missed seeing the Super 6.
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see post 12. I'm with ya though he was a star for Fitzroy in his very early years and we never got to see the best of him.
 
Shaun Rehn, 3 knee reco's but still managed 2 premierships.
have to wonder how much better he could have been without the injurys

Matthew Robran, so much potential but made of glass

Tony Hall, as above
 
paul salmon.i know he played for a long time,but was absolutely carving the competition up when he did his knee.
imagine what essendon would have achieved with him in the side.
dean rice i think did his knee at least twice.damn he went hard at it
 
Viva la Mattner said:
Shaun Rehn, 3 knee reco's but still managed 2 premierships.
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In the 3 years he missed because of his knee recos, Adelaide missed the finals altogether. In the 2 full seasons he played in between, they won the flag both years. Poor bloke was finished by the time he went to Hawthorn.
 
TIGER ROCKET said:
paul salmon.i know he played for a long time,but was absolutely carving the competition up when he did his knee.
imagine what essendon would have achieved with him in the side.
dean rice i think did his knee at least twice.damn he went hard at it
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I think I saw one of those Rice 'knees' on telly as well ... from memory it was a bit of compelling viewing where the knee went in directions that would have done a protractor proud.
 
The three from Geelong that come straight to mind are Barry Stoneham, Jason Snell and Marc Woolnough.

Woolnough was another father son selection for Geelong that looked the goods, moved well and played well for a tall player. Only got a couple of games under the belt because of constant knee injuries. Could have been another great FS for Geelong.
 
Jason Dunstall, I know he had a good career but he also had 2 knee reco's, a fractured skull and a broken collarbone. Injury free he could have easily kicked 1500+ goals.
Other players include Aaron Hamil, the ox, kouta, Half st Kilda's list and jason snell.
 
Paul Lynch for the Catters... Chronic hamstring problems cut his career short.

Oh, and does anybody remember a little fella who played for Sydney during their 's**t period' in the 90's? Sanford Wheeler - he went alright before he had an absolute horror leg-break, much worse than Nathan Brown's, if I remember right.
 
Geelong_Sicko said:
Oh, and does anybody remember a little fella who played for Sydney during their 's**t period' in the 90's? Sanford Wheeler - he went alright before he had an absolute horror leg-break, much worse than Nathan Brown's, if I remember right.
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I think you're referring to Jamie Lawson and it was one of the worst cases of a broken leg that I can remember.
 
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