Which footballer do you feel is underrated because they played for an unsuccessful team?

Dec 7, 2014
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Kade Simpson is an absolute gun and one Carlton's best players for nearly 2 decades but will be remembered as the player with the most lossess in AFL/VFL history.
 
May 5, 2006
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Kade Simpson is an absolute gun and one Carlton's best players for nearly 2 decades but will be remembered as the player with the most lossess in AFL/VFL history.

Kade Simpson would not be in the top 50 players of the 2000s. He might not even make the top 100. Is he in Carlton's best 5 ahead of Judd, Fev, Murphy etc? He will likely take the mantle of 'biggest loser' next season but he has still played in over 100 wins and 6 finals. There are plenty of current players who have cracked 100 without playing a single final, Rockliff and Dunn will play 200 before they play one.

He's a good player who is durable and loyal but he's not actually that good. People get carried away because he is small and lightly built. Playing in a mostly ordinary team doesn't make him Trevor Barker.

As a mid he was always behind a few teammates, even in a team that peaked finishing 5th. Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Stevens were all better players. Since 2013 he's been playing at half back, the easiest role in modern footy. Just racking up uncontested touches in the back half isn't that highly rated, hence Rory Laird and Jake Lloyd don't feature in Slobbo's most recent top 50 despite doing what Simpson does better than Simpson.

He could easily slot into a better side but he wouldn't be the star of the show.
 
Dec 7, 2014
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^ point proven. Completely disregards what makes Simpson a legend and undermines his career by assuming he only stands in open space with no opponent.

I don't think we need any further evidence.
 
May 5, 2006
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Wonderful counter argument, truly one for the ages.

Playing for a long time in an ordinary team doesn't make you a superstar. There's a reason people recognise Matthew Pavlich as a gun and over time realised that Luke McPharlin and David Mundy were likewise. And there's also a reason that Shaun McManus is remembered as a great servant of Freo rather than an underappreciated star who played in a poor era for his team.
 
Feb 18, 2003
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Two Essendon blokes from 2 different eras.

Ken Fletcher was a fine player at Essendon in a period where finals were rare. A tall rangy wingman who ended up his club's captain in the dim dark days of the 1970s. Played 260+ games. Became a fine coach of young footballers at Essendon Grammar - but is mainly known these days for who his son is!

Since 2004 perhaps the criminally under-rated is Brent Stanton. For all the plaudits Jobe Watson got in his time, Stanton was arguably much more consistent.
 

AuntyBlindEye

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Jul 19, 2019
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The obvious ones are guys like Matthew Richardson, Matthew Pavlich, Danny Frawley, Brendan Fevola, Shane Crawford (until his last season), Paul Roos, Patrick Cripps, but they aren’t underrated, most people Universally accept they’re superstars and many really undervalue the other guys in the team.

Personally I felt Paul Broderick and Joel Bowden were phenomenal players for Richmond.

Broderick was tough as nails, most penetrating handball in our team, always had time and space.

Joel Bowden is arguably the smartest footballer to ever play the game, he knew the rules inside out and exploited them on numerous occasions, this guy single handedly won us games of football. Besides his smarts, he was a natural goal kicker, who we played as an undersized full back 🤦‍♂️

He kicked goals from 60 off one step, sold candy to robert harvey so ruthlessly, that Harvey’s kids still had leftovers for Halloween last year.
But yeah, they’re players for us that will never get a mention, but out and our superstars.
Who else pops to mind?
I used to love brodders and Bowen growing up. Good picks.

I know he doesn't really qualify given Richmond are a decent team now but Jayden Short. Heir to Houlis rebounding throne and Richmond's best kick by a long way. Came about when Richmond were down and has never really gotten much attention other than for his goals from outside 50, but he is a player I have supreme confidence in and whenever he gets the ball it inevitably finds its way to a teammate further down the field in beautiful fashion. I could watch him kick all day.
 

Barry_Badrinath

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Bryce Gibbs was a very good player with a sublime kick and no real weaknesses but was always a bit of a whipping boy because he never turned into the player Carlton were hoping for. When he was at his peak Carlton were a consistent finals side. Not his fault the rest of the list was trash but he always seemed to cop it unfairly.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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Bryce Gibbs was a very good player with a sublime kick and no real weaknesses but was always a bit of a whipping boy because he never turned into the player Carlton were hoping for. When he was at his peak Carlton were a consistent finals side. Not his fault the rest of the list was trash but he always seemed to cop it unfairly.
He had some serious weaknesses. Not great at getting thr Hard ball. Went missing. Was reduced to a flanker role due to his weaknesses.
 

Grrr

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Joel Bowden was severely overrated due to Dream Team.

Huge chipscab with limited hurt factor.
You mean 2 times AA Centre Half Back in an era when there were a lot of great Centre Half Forwards, and was only 188cm. People have a jaundiced view of Bowden due to having the ability to implement Terry Wallaces keepings off game plan, but for most of his career he was a gun.
 

Foucault1989

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Oct 16, 2016
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Bryce Gibbs was a very good player with a sublime kick and no real weaknesses but was always a bit of a whipping boy because he never turned into the player Carlton were hoping for. When he was at his peak Carlton were a consistent finals side. Not his fault the rest of the list was trash but he always seemed to cop it unfairly.
And he was played out of position for years
 
Jul 14, 2005
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You mean 2 times AA Centre Half Back in an era when there were a lot of great Centre Half Forwards, and was only 188cm. People have a jaundiced view of Bowden due to having the ability to implement Terry Wallaces keepings off game plan, but for most of his career he was a gun.

Pretty much proves my point. Despite being average defensively, and doing little to impact the game he was adulated.

This occurred because his ascension came at a time when statistics were starting to be used possesively, but lacked the nuance to properly show a players true wares, so he had a point of difference in his inflated possession stats in contrast to pure stoppers who were by definition better players.

No one regards Brendan Goddard’s last few seasons as an ineffective loose half-back as elite (quite the opposite), so why the revisionism with Bowden?

The bloke was unlucky not to be able to play his best position as a clever medium forward, but this doesn’t alter the discourse.
 
Feb 26, 2013
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Bob Skilton, geez if only he’d played in some grand finals and received a Norm Smith *, or two. He’d be a legend ....

* Norm Smith’s only evolved in 1979.
Yeah, a great player who seems to get overlooked. Easily in the same company as GAJ, GAS Lethal, Carey etc. Is a player of the past who without doubt would be an absolute gun if he played today.
 

emblurr

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May 1, 2008
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Since 2004 perhaps the criminally under-rated is Brent Stanton. For all the plaudits Jobe Watson got in his time, Stanton was arguably much more consistent.

Brent Stanton is who came to mind for me. IMO if he had been drafted to one of the successful teams like Geelong, Hawthorn or Sydney, he would be rated much higher as a player.
 

Grrr

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Pretty much proves my point. Despite being average defensively, and doing little to impact the game he was adulated.

This occurred because his ascension came at a time when statistics were starting to be used possesively, but lacked the nuance to properly show a players true wares, so he had a point of difference in his inflated possession stats in contrast to pure stoppers who were by definition better players.

No one regards Brendan Goddard’s last few seasons as an ineffective loose half-back as elite (quite the opposite), so why the revisionism with Bowden?

The bloke was unlucky not to be able to play his best position as a clever medium forward, but this doesn’t alter the discourse.
So he was gifted his 2x AA Centre Half Backs because he was a loose chip scab, not because he played on and matched Tredrea, Lucas, Brown etc and was deemed good enough by his peers to be named the best CHB in the league twice. He also kicked 175 goals, not bad for a bloke that played most of his football as a backman. Bowden was in our best 4 players easily for most of his career, behind Richo, Knights and Campbell (just). He was a smart enough to rack up possessions when he became a half back (not CHB), but he was an excellent user of the ball so why not get the ball in his hands.

Brendon Goddard likewise was never ineffectual because he was an elite kicks of a football. And I don't sum up a players career by the memories of playing in a poor side at the end of their careers.
 
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